Priscilla Chan founded a school, 10 years later, Board voted to close it; shutdown shows what philanthropic investment means for community when it arrives, and when it leaves
A decade after Mark Zuckerberg’s wife Priscilla Chan launched a tuition-free private school aimed at supporting low-income children and their families, the ambitious education project has closed, highlighting both the impact and fragility of philanthropy-backed community institutions. According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, the Primary School, co-founded by Chan and funded majorly through the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI), shut its doors un June after receiving more than $125 million in funding over roughly a decade. Located on East Palo Alto, California, the school opened in 2016 with a mission that went beyond academics. It sought to support the ‘whole child’ by offering services such as free dental care, development screenings, wellness coaching for parents and other support programmes often unavailable via traditional public schools.
Why the school founded by Priscilla Chan came to a closure
The school’s board voted unanimously in April 2025 to close it after the 2025-26 academic year. People familiar with the matter told the Journal the vote followed word that CZI would not fund the school beyond that year. Board president Jean-Claude Brizard, a former head of Chicago’s public schools, said he gave CZI several options beforehand, including winding down. He said the board would not have voted to close without the funder’s alignment. A CZI spokesperson said the decision belonged to the board and that the organization was focused on academic results rather than cost.The decision came as CZI was narrowing its focus. Staff were told early last year that funding for social advocacy had been wound down to fit the organization’s identity as a science philanthropy and the current legal and policy landscape. CZI said there was no evidence that Zuckerberg and Chan’s attendance at President Trump’s inauguration influenced the board’s vote. Brizard called the timing an “unfortunate coincidence.“
Academic results were mixed
Academic results were mixed. A Stanford University report found that in spring 2025, 26% of Primary School students in third grade and above exceeded literacy standards. That compared with 14% of other local students and 47% statewide. The school said its eighth-graders, many of whom had attended for a decade, reached above 50% grade-level proficiency in their final year. Outside the classroom, the school pointed to stronger results. About 85% of its students had an annual well-child visit, against 55% of Medicaid-enrolled children in the county. Three in four students spoke a language other than English at home.Former staff described growing pains, including high principal turnover and initially unclear approaches to special education and discipline. A consultant who worked with the school said new schools can take about five years to find their footing. Some features felt more like a startup than a school: teachers signed nondisclosure agreements, and some toddlers wore recording devices at home as part of a language-development program.
The funding problem
CZI said it had never planned to be the school’s sole backer indefinitely, and had hoped the model could be sustained mainly through public investment. Chan lobbied her network for other donors, the organization said. Brizard said that was a hard sell, since donors wondered why they should fund something already supported by one of the world’s wealthiest people.He also acknowledged a communication gap. The school “was never supposed to be just a philanthropic play in perpetuity,” he said, adding that this may not have been articulated well enough.
Impact on famalies
About 540 children were enrolled across two campuses. Ravenswood City Elementary School District is now preparing for an enrollment surge and is renovating a campus to avoid putting students in portable trailers.CZI pledged $50 million when the closure was announced. The money covers the remaining lease payments to the district and supports local groups carrying on some of the school’s services. CZI also put $3.6 million into education savings accounts: $10,000 for each elementary student, $2,500 for preschoolers and $1,000 for children in early-childhood programs.Some parents said the news came too abruptly. Angelica Cardenas, 29, who has a daughter at the school and five relatives’ children enrolled, said she learned of the closure from the news. She said families should have been told earlier. Mele Fakapelea, whose oldest daughter was in the founding class and who later enrolled four younger children, called the loss of the school’s support system “crushing.”Every teacher returned for the final year. School leaders helped families arrange tours of other schools, complete applications and open the savings accounts.In June, the school’s only class of eighth-graders graduated. Fakapelea’s 13-year-old daughter was one of two student speakers, and her family draped her in leis afterward.
