The Primary School opened its doors in 2016, located just a few miles from Facebook’s main office. Its goal was to provide a free educational environment for children from low-income backgrounds, along with access to healthcare and social services all in one place.
Dr. Priscilla Chan, a pediatrician who is married to Facebook’s founder Mark Zuckerberg, collaborated with her friend and educator Meredith Liu to establish the school in East Palo Alto, California. This community is diverse but often does not benefit from the wealth of neighboring Silicon Valley.
Their discussions highlighted how children from low-income families often face early-life trauma, which can have long-term effects. The Primary School aimed to tackle the systemic racism and poverty affecting communities of color, as indicated on its website.
However, this week, school officials surprised families by announcing that the school would close in the summer of 2026.
Emeline Vainikolo shared that parents were invited to a breakfast with bagels, fruit, and Starbucks coffee, where they shockingly learned about the closure without any explanation. She described the moment as one of confusion, leaving parents in disbelief. Her kindergartner later mentioned something he heard from a teacher.
“‘Mommy, the guy who gives money to our school doesn’t want to help us anymore,’” he told her.
This “guy” refers to Mr. Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, who, like many tech leaders in Silicon Valley, has shifted focus this year towards gaining favor with President Trump. This shift has also affected their commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.
The decision to close the Primary School alongside another campus in the East Bay has led families to question if this timing was merely coincidental. These educational institutions were launched during a period when tech leaders were heavily investing in racial justice and diversity initiatives aimed at reducing inequality.
The Primary School was one of the initial beneficiaries of the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, which was created by Mr. Zuckerberg and Dr. Chan a decade ago and is still co-managed by them. The initiative provided around $100 million in grants to the school and associated organizations from 2018 to 2024.
Initially, the school catered exclusively to preschoolers but planned to expand to serve children from toddlers to eighth grade, adding a new grade each year. The 2025-26 school year will mark the introduction of the eighth grade — and also its final year.
When 35 students graduate from the eighth grade, both the Primary School and the East Bay campus in San Leandro, California will cease operation. Together, they serve about 550 students.
Leaders at the school and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative have remained largely silent about the reasons for this decision. The announcement was made on the school’s website following the parent breakfast, but no specific explanations were provided.
However, they did mention that the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative plans to invest $50 million into the local communities, along with education savings accounts for the affected students and specialists to assist families in relocating to new schools. Reporters were referred to the school’s statement by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.
If the school was intended as a pilot program, it faced obstacles. Parents reported significant teacher turnover, although school officials claimed retention rates over the past couple of years were satisfactory. The community mourned the loss of Ms. Liu, a co-founder of the school, who passed away in 2023.
The program also found it challenging to secure funding from sources outside the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. Jean-Claude Brizard, a former Chicago school superintendent and current board chair for the Primary School, stated that they had pursued public funding to avoid total reliance on the Zuckerberg family’s contributions.
“Long-term sustainability is not possible if a program is completely dependent on philanthropic support — or even half reliant,” Mr. Brizard said in an interview.
He added that the school struggled to demonstrate enough progress to attract public or additional private funding to back its operations.
“I’m the one who suggested we consider the tough options,” he explained. “Is it time to disband? Should we start transferring our assets to the community?”
Carson Cook, the Primary School’s senior strategy manager, refrained from making detailed comments during an interview conducted at the school’s office, situated in a strip mall near Nordstrom Rack, close to the campus.
“Yes, we will phase out,” he acknowledged. “But there’s ample motivation to ensure this year is exceptional.”
When asked when the administration found out about the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative’s withdrawal of support, Mr. Cook responded, “No comment.” He also declined to discuss whether he thought Mr. Zuckerberg’s withdrawal was influenced by the president’s stance on eliminating D.E.I. initiatives.
Back in 2020, the Primary School made several commitments to anti-racism, including teaching about “identity development, diverse cultures and concepts” and creating opportunities for students to engage in social justice efforts, according to its website. A D.E.I. task force was also established that year to ensure the school honored its commitments.
Mr. Cook did not permit a journalist to enter the school. Signs in its administrative offices promote it as “a safe space,” and a large poster displays lines from Amanda Gorman’s poem, “The Hill We Climb,” which she recited at President Biden’s inauguration in 2021.
Mr. Brizard stressed that the closures were not indicative of a withdrawal from D.E.I. efforts by Mr. Zuckerberg. Officials from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative highlighted their ongoing investment of $50 million to assist families in East Palo Alto and San Leandro as evidence of their continued commitment to the mission.
The decision to phase out the school comes over a decade after another educational venture by Mr. Zuckerberg. In 2010, he allocated $100 million to improve public education in Newark, which received matching contributions. While this initiative aided charter schools, it also left many parents, activists, and teachers feeling frustrated.
Parents in East Palo Alto expressed their disappointment on Thursday regarding the school’s closure, emphasizing their lack of understanding about the reasoning behind it. One mother, who requested anonymity due to her immigration status, praised the school for being a suitable environment for her 6-year-old son with autism. She appreciated the attention he received from teachers, ensuring he was not bullied.
She was particularly thankful to Dr. Chan for launching the school and fulfilling her promises for high-quality education for all students—until this week.
“Overnight, she did a complete turnaround that none of us expected,” she remarked in Spanish. “All we’re asking from her is to support us and not abandon our children halfway.”
Ms. Vainikolo and her sisters have six children enrolled in the school. She is pregnant with a baby boy due in June and had hoped to enroll him there with his siblings and cousins.
“He’s a billionaire,” she said about Mr. Zuckerberg. “Why would he want to shut this down?”
Kirsten Noyes contributed research.
