The Primary School, a Silicon Valley elementary school backed by Mark Zuckerberg, is preparing to close its doors in 2026. The charter school currently serves around 550 children, operating a second site in San Francisco. It began to receive national accolades for its creative approaches to education and for delivering strong results for low-income families.
The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) is the nonprofit that tech billionaire Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, launched in December 2015. From the beginning, CZI has been a key funder of The Primary School. Recent reports suggest that CZI will stop funding the school. A child reportedly told their mother, “Mommy, the guy who’s been giving money to our school doesn’t want to give it to us anymore,” highlighting the uncertainty surrounding the school’s future.
Official Announcement of School Closure
The Primary School’s website makes it official, announcing plans to close. It rightly accounts for the awful realities that students and families are dealing with right now. This was an incredibly tough decision, and we’re dedicated to making the overall transition as supportive and positive for students and families in the year ahead the announcement read.
Though The Primary School has now closed, CZI remains deeply committed to investing in the local community. The organization has made a real $50 million investment commitment over the next several years. Specifically, they will focus their work in East Palo Alto, Belle Haven and the East Bay region. This major investment will expand on the work being done to create world-class educational opportunities and strengthen communities in these neighborhoods.
Founders like Mark Zuckerberg, who created the company Meta, have been under pressure to ensure that their philanthropic endeavors are not corrosive to local communities. The Primary School’s closure raises questions about the sustainability of such initiatives. CZI maintains its focus on broader community enhancement.
Author’s Opinion
While Zuckerberg’s philanthropic efforts like CZI are well-intentioned, the closure of The Primary School highlights the risks of relying on private funding for public goods. The long-term sustainability of such initiatives should be closely scrutinized, particularly when they lack consistent funding streams and rely on the whims of a few large donors.
