A school founded by Priscilla Chan and supported by her husband, Mark Zuckerberg, announced yesterday that its school in East Palo Alto is closing down, moving over 400 kids into the Ravenswood School District.
The Primary School at 2086 Clarke Ave. will close at the end of the 2025-2026 school year, a blog post from the school said last night. “This was a very difficult decision, and we are committed to ensuring a thoughtful and supportive transition for students and families over the next year,” the blog post said.
The announcement came after school officials met with families yesterday. The Primary School didn’t give a reason for its closing.
The Primary School was founded in East Palo Alto in 2016 with a focus on combining health care, education and family support.
Chan, 40, of Palo Alto, said she started the school after working as a pediatrician and an educator and learning that in both roles she couldn’t provide the support children needed to do well in school.
Gina Sudaria, superintendent of Ravenswood City School District, thanked The Primary School yesterday and said she is excited to welcome its families.
“Over the next few months, we will be working closely with The Primary School to ensure a thoughtful and seamless transition for every child and family joining our Ravenswood community,” Sudaria said. “We’ve worked closely with TPS since its founding, and will work to integrate the most successful elements of its model into our district. It builds on the school district’s strong foundation of health programming and parent engagement.”
The Primary School leases the former Brentwood Academy campus from the Ravenswood district
The Primary School is also closing its second campus in San Leandro in the East Bay.
$50 million
The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative said it will make a $50 million investment over the next few years in the East Bay, East Palo Alto and the Belle Haven neighborhood of Menlo Park.
That investment includes education savings plans for current students — $10,000 for elementary school students, $2,500 for preschools and $1,000 for children under 3 years old. The money can be used to cover tuition, books and academic services.
The school has 443 children enrolled in its elementary school and early childhood education programs and 58% get specialized support. The school is 61% Latino, according to the website.
Zuckerberg is on the anti-DEI team, being present at Trump’s inauguration. I’m not surprised by this. Good riddance.
Yup. Concur completely!
One of the richest men in the world learned first hand that it’s impossible to do anything good in East Palo Alto. The people there will just sabotage your efforts. Why does anybody try to help?
If you want to see good in East Palo Alto you do not need to look far. I can give you a list of graduates from Harvard, Brown, Stanford, UCLA, and more top colleges where our students are thriving. They are also coming back and leading, teaching, becoming home owners and otherwise incredible assets to making the world a better place. Not to mention the beautiful community events that feel like home. Please do not underestimate our community of leaders of all ages. The East Palo Alto of the 1990s is not the EPA of today.
This is not about people in the community sabotaging anything – the school community has put in much effort, time, and love. What’s “impossible” is to say you care about a community but then drop crumbs of wealth from a distance and expect it to work with no real commitment. Don’t go blaming the people in the community who had promises made and broken.
This is not about people in the community sabotaging anything – the school community has put in much effort, time, and love. What’s “impossible” is to say you care about a community but then drop crumbs of wealth from a distance and expect it to work with no real commitment. Don’t go blaming the people in the community who had promises made and broken.
that’s possibly the dumbest thing you could’ve written.
You are a piece of [avoid profanity please] for the comment! Do you realize how many families are affected by this decision? The only thing done wrong here is them disposing this kids, teachers and families as if they are trash!
Makes sense your ignorance is anonymous for a reason. You have no idea of what you’re talking about. Idiots assume that wealthy people are good at everything. They are not. Parents, children, teachers and the community were very invested in The Primary School’s success. The rich assume they can throw money at problems and if they aren’t fixed, then it’s someone else’s fault.
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Or maybe they realized performative support does nothing for the community and it actually takes effort to support people going through multiple layers of marginalization. Your comment is so ignorant and tone deaf
That is not a true statement. It is all about respect, acceptance and teaching our brothers and sisters the America way. Just as the majority of our parents had to learn when they arrived from many different parts of the USA, Europe and South and Central
America.
It’s definitely hard to guess anyone’s reasons in the first place.
The timing of the announcement could’ve been better. It would’ve given parents more time to choose the right school for their kids, possibly transfer them, or apply for support.
That said, maybe the parents and the school knew a bit earlier than the public announcement.
Rovenhood School District certainly isn’t demonstrating much success with their current students.
I’m wondering if they have the resources to take on 250 kids with special needs.
I don’t mean money specifically. They actually have better funding than any other school in the county.
So it’s okay to give to rich people in the government. He wasn’t given to the kids for a better education. Some people love to criticize EPA any chance they get for any reason like they know what happened. But it’s okay to give to the rich people in DC.
Anonymous, your ignorance is appalling. There are many successes in East Palo Alto and many intelligent students who are making their way through college as a result of these important programs.
Rather than the animals you portray in your statement, you will find a loving community of many warm and decent human beings.
I encourage you to volunteer in the community. It will change your life for the better.
You can still buy crack on Bay Road from these bright, intelligent young people. East Palo Alto is a wonderful place in deed!
Someone wanted the land the school is on and they got it. Look forward to a row of seven story housing blocks coming soon to the neighborhood.
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[Post removed for a Terms of Use violation — commenter used two names on this thread to create a “sock puppet” effect.]