After nearly a decade of educating underserved students in the San Francisco Bay Area, The Primary School, a tuition-free private school co-founded by pediatrician Priscilla Chan — wife of Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg — will shut down following the 2025–2026 academic year.
The nonprofit school, which operates campuses in East Palo Alto and the East Bay, made the announcement via a statement on its website late Thursday, citing a difficult decision to close but committing to a “thoughtful and supportive transition for students and families” over the next year.
A $50 Million Investment in Community
Though the school is winding down, its legacy will continue through a significant philanthropic investment. The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI), the couple’s charitable foundation, pledged $50 million to support the communities The Primary School has served — including East Palo Alto, Belle Haven, and the broader East Bay region — in the coming years.
No additional comment was provided by Carson Cook, a spokesperson for the school.
A Bold Experiment in Education and Health
Founded in 2016, The Primary School was envisioned as a groundbreaking model that integrated health care with education, supporting children and families from birth through high school. The approach was rooted in Chan’s experience as a pediatrician and educator, with the goal of addressing systemic challenges that underserved families face.
The school’s first middle school cohort launched in 2023, and tax records show that more than 95% of the students enrolled at its East Palo Alto campus are from underrepresented minority groups. As of June 2023, the school held more than $30 million in assets, according to its most recent filing.
Part of a Broader Trend Among Tech Titans
The Primary School isn’t the only educational experiment born from Silicon Valley wealth. In recent years, billionaires like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Larry Ellison have launched or backed their own learning institutions.
Musk’s Ad Astra school in Austin — supported with over $237 million from the Musk Foundation — focuses on technology and innovation and is reportedly planning to expand into higher education. Ellison has helped fund a Montessori school on his private Hawaiian island of Lanai. Meanwhile, Bezos has launched a growing network of Montessori-inspired preschools aimed at low-income communities.
A Changing Political Landscape
The closure also comes during a period of ideological repositioning for Zuckerberg and Meta. Amid broader corporate restructuring, Zuckerberg has brought in figures aligned with former President Donald Trump, including UFC President Dana White and former deputy national security adviser Dina Powell McCormick, as board members.
Meta has also rolled back many of its content moderation and diversity initiatives. The company has disbanded its U.S. fact-checking program, weakened its hate speech policies, and scaled back diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts — both within Meta and at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.
This shift contrasts with The Primary School’s efforts. The school conducted a DEI audit in 2020 following nationwide Black Lives Matter protests and later established a dedicated task force to continue advancing equity and inclusion.
What’s Next for Students and Families?
As the school begins its final two years of operations, its leadership has committed to ensuring a smooth transition for its 543 students and their families. The specifics of how the $50 million community investment will be distributed are yet to be disclosed, but the focus will reportedly remain on educational access, child well-being, and community development.
Though The Primary School’s time is coming to an end, its integrated model and bold ambitions have already influenced conversations around how education and health care can intersect — and how philanthropy might better serve the needs of underserved communities.