The Primary School, a tuition-free private institution co-founded in 2016 by Priscilla Chan, the wife of Mark Zuckerberg, to support diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) values, is set to close at the end of the 2025–2026 school year.
According to a statement on its website announcing the closure, Chan and late educator Meredith Liu established the school, which has campuses in East Palo Alto and East Bay, CA, “on the guiding principle that raising a child is a team effort” and the decision to close came “after much deliberation.”
“Too often, our country’s systems of care are siloed and don’t adequately address a child’s varied needs,” the statement read. “The Primary School model breaks down those silos by bringing together the adults in a child’s life — including parents, educators, and health providers — starting from an early age.”
The statement continued, “…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.”
To ease the transition, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI), the couple’s science-driven philanthropic organization, plans to invest $50 million in the schools’ communities over the next five years. The funding will help provide resources including 529 education savings plans for its students and transition specialists to assist families.
The closure of The Primary School comes amid a nationwide backlash against DEI initiatives from the Trump administration. The school’s website emphasizes its commitment to DEI, noting the formation of a DEI Taskforce in 2020 — “a representative staff body that informs, advances, and holds our organization accountable” for DEI efforts at every level.
However, in February 2025, CZI informed staff that it would be ending its DEI initiatives “given the shifting regulatory and legal landscape.” This was despite assurances to employees weeks earlier — on Jan. 10, the same day Meta announced it was terminating its DEI programs — of its ongoing commitment to such values, according to The Guardian.
In its own memo sent to employees, Janelle Gale, Meta’s vice president of human resources, said the company was ending its DEI programs due to the changing “legal and policy landscape surrounding diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in the United States,” AFROTECH™ noted.
“Meta has the privilege to serve billions of people every day,” the memo concluded. “It’s important to us that our products are accessible to all and are useful in promoting economic growth and opportunity around the world. We continue to focus on serving everyone and building a multi-talented, industry-leading workforce from all walks of life.”
