Zuckerberg, Priscilla Chan to Shut Down Free School After 10 Years; Parents Left Stunned

The Primary School, founded in 2016 by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative to serve low-income communities, will close after the 2025–26 school year, prompting shock and disappointment among parents.

April 30, 2025: Zuckerberg-Funded School For Low-Income Families to Shut Down in 2026, Leaving Parents Shocked

An elementary school in East Palo Alto, California, founded by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan through their philanthropic arm — the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) — will permanently close at the end of the 2025–26 academic year, after a decade in operation.

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The Primary School, a tuition-free institution aimed at serving low-income communities of colour, was launched in 2016 just miles from Meta’s headquarters. The announcement of its closure has left parents blindsided.

According to a report by The New York Times, families were informed of the decision during a breakfast meeting.

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“After much deliberation, our schools in East Palo Alto and the East Bay will be closing at the end of the 2025-26 school year. This was a very difficult decision,” the school said in a statement, adding that CZI will invest $50 million in the surrounding communities over the coming years to preserve the school’s legacy.

For many parents, the news came as a shock. Emeline Vainikolo, whose child is enrolled in kindergarten, learned about the decision from her son — who had heard it from a teacher.

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“Mommy, the guy [Zuckerberg] who’s been giving money to our school doesn’t want to give it to us anymore,” her son reportedly told her.

The school originally started with preschoolers and had been expanding by one grade each year. Ironically, the 2025–26 school year will mark both its first eighth-grade class and its last.

While no official reason for the closure was provided, the decision coincides with a broader shift in Zuckerberg’s public stance. At Meta, the company has moved away from diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs, focusing instead on what it calls “fair and consistent practices that mitigate bias for all, no matter your background.”

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Mark Zuckerberg, Priscilla Chan, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, The Primary School, school closure, East Palo Alto, low-income education, Meta, DEI, US education, Zuckerberg philanthropy, Priscilla Chan school, East Bay schools, tech and education, US school funding