Chan Zuckerberg-backed The Primary School in East Palo Alto to close next year

The Primary School in East Palo Alto will shut its doors at the end of next school year, according to an announcement posted Monday on the school’s website.

Founded in 2016 by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, the tuition-free private school serves students from predominantly low-income communities in East Palo Alto and neighboring Menlo Park.

“After much deliberation, our schools in East Palo Alto and the East Bay will be closing at the end of the 2025–26 school year,” the school said in a statement. “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.”

A spokesperson declined to comment on the reasons behind the closure.

The announcement has sparked outrage from some community leaders, who say the decision represents yet another broken promise to a historically underserved area.

Just a few miles from Meta’s sprawling Menlo Park headquarters, East Palo Alto is a highly diverse, historically underrepresented city that has undergone dramatic transformation over the past decade.

Once dubbed the nation’s “murder capital,” it recorded zero homicides in 2023 — a milestone many saw as the start of a new chapter in the city’s efforts to shed its reputation for violence. Long regarded as Silicon Valley’s last affordable enclave, the city has faced mounting pressure from rising housing costs, displacing many longtime residents.

The Primary School currently has 443 students enrolled, according to its website. Its founding, led by Priscilla Chan — a physician and wife of Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg — aimed to offer a “novel” approach to childhood education that integrates academics with health care, including dental and mental health services, and coaching for parents and family members.

According to the school’s data, 61% of students at the East Palo Alto campus are Latin American, 7% are Black, and 7% are Pacific Islander.

News of the closure drew swift backlash from local leaders, including former East Palo Alto Mayor Antonio López, who slammed the decision as a betrayal.

“The Primary School by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative isn’t about scarcity — it’s about choices made by one of the world’s wealthiest entities,” López told this news organization on Tuesday. “Choices that, frankly, Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan should be ashamed of. There’s a particular cruelty in building up hope in a community, forming deep bonds with students and parents, only to abruptly pull the rug out.”

López mentioned he attended Brentwood Academy, the school that previously occupied the site before it, too, was closed.

“Frankly, we — the children and families of East Palo Alto — are sick and tired of institutions investing in us, only to abandon us,” he said.

To “preserve the school’s legacy,” the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative said it will invest $50 million over the next few years in the East Palo Alto, Belle Haven, and East Bay communities.

“While more details will come, immediate support will include investments in 529 education savings plans for all our students, to support their future learning; transition specialists and support for families as they navigate the move to new schools,” the school said.

The Primary School also operates a campus in San Leandro for children ages 1 to 4, which will also close by the end of the 2025–26 school year.

“In the East Bay, we will be supporting children and families to access preschool and kindergarten options in the community,” the school said.

Jean-Claude Brizard, chair of The Primary School’s board, said the school has made a “lasting impact” on the children it served.

“(The community) helped us demonstrate what is possible when we think and operate differently,” he said.

In its statement, the school emphasized its hope that the work it started will continue through other partners.

“Though The Primary School as it exists today will be coming to an end, we sincerely hope that what we have learned and shown to be possible will live on,” the school said. “We will entrust our partners in this work — both our direct collaborators and our compatriots across the education and health fields — to carry the torch for all families, but especially the most vulnerable.”