Priscilla Chan founded a school in 2016; 10 yrs later, it closed after $125m funding
The Primary School, co-founded by Priscilla Chan, is closing after ten years despite receiving $125 million in funding from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. The decision follows the withdrawal of CZI funding, marking the end of a high-profile attempt to integrate education with healthcare services.
Why it matters
The closure highlights the challenges of sustaining philanthropic education models and the complexities of integrating social services into school environments.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg's wife Dr Priscilla Chan co-founded The Primary School in East Palo Alto, California, in 2016. The school was established to provide tuition-free education, along with healthcare and family support services, for low-income children. Ten years later, after receiving more than $125 million in funding from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI), the school closed in June, following its board's April 2025 unanimous vote to wind down operations after it learned CZI would not continue funding beyond the 2025-26 academic year.The closure marks the end of one of the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative's highest-profile education initiatives. Explaining the decision, board president Jean-Claude Brizard told the Wall Street Journal that the board had considered multiple options with CZI before taking the decision, including "winding down.”"The board wouldn’t have voted to close without alignment from their biggest funder,” he added.
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in