Particle.news
Download on the App Store
3 ARTICLES
·
4h ago

Zuckerberg–Chan Homeschool Pod Shut Down As CZI-Backed East Palo Alto School Winds Down

The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative has pledged $50 million to aid families ahead of the Primary School’s planned closure after next academic year.

Parents pick up their kids outside of The Primary School created by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative in East Palo Alto on Monday, April 28, 2025.
Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg attend the 2025 Breakthrough Prize Ceremony at Barker Hangar on April 5, 2025 in Santa Monica. After a city investigation into a home-based school at their Palo Alto compound, the Meta CEO and his wife say their pandemic-era homeschool was legal.
Image
Image

Overview

  • Palo Alto planning staff concluded that the BBS homeschool pod at the Zuckerbergs’ Crescent Park residence violated city zoning rules following neighbor complaints about traffic and staff drop-offs.
  • City officials confirmed the home-based program has shut down and arranged for its approximately 14 students to relocate to a new site.
  • The couple’s representatives said the pod began as a pandemic-era homeschool with no tuition and relied on parent instructors, citing limits in California’s private-school affidavit system.
  • The tuition-free Primary School in East Palo Alto remains on track to close after the 2025–26 year, backed by a previously announced $50 million transition fund from CZI.
  • The cases underscore ongoing challenges in structuring, documenting and regulating privately funded educational experiments and their effects on local communities.