Kanye West’s $15K-Per-Year Private School ‘Donda Academy’ Tells Parents It’s Closing ‘Effective Immediately’
JEAN-BAPTISTE LACROIX/AFP via Getty Images
Donda Academy, the Simi Valley, CA private school founded by troubled rapper Kanye West, has closed its doors “effective immediately,” according to an email sent to parents Wednesday.
West, who now goes by Ye, launched the Southern California Christian prep school earlier this year, naming it after his late mother, Donda West, and offering classes from pre-K through twelfth grade.
A September Rolling Stone article reported that families were asked to sign non-disclosure agreements and tuition cost $15,000 per year, with roughly half of the students receiving some form of financial aid or scholarship. The exact location of the school campus is a closely-guarded secret and enrollment reportedly included about 100 students taught by 13 teachers.
The student uniforms were designed by Balenciaga — one of the growing lists of business partners who have publicly severed ties with West in the aftermath of his anti-Semitic remarks.
Wednesday evening, Donda Academy principal Jason Angell sent an email to parents marked “**URGENT** PLEASE READ” announcing the closure of the school “at the discretion of our Founder” for the remainder of the 2022-2023 school year “effective immediately.”
“THERE IS NO SCHOOL TOMORROW,” meaning Thursday, Angell continued, promising that the school’s “leadership team will be working diligently to assist all families during this transition” and that the school “intend[ed] to begin afresh in September 2023.”
Chuck Bailey, a 3-star recruit on the school’s basketball team, announced on Twitter Wednesday evening he and his family had decided to “part ways” with Donda Academy “[d]ue to everything that has been going on with Mr. West.” The Donda Doves team had made headlines for attracting top talent like Bailey but had a major setback when key high school basketball tournaments would not allow Donda players to compete, according to a report by The Times of London.
UPDATE 3:00 pm ET: Donda Academy might be back open. Maybe. According to a report by TMZ, another email went out to students’ families several hours after the original email announcing the school was closing.
The new email said it was from “Parents of Donda” and invited “Parents and Staff” to “Join us tomorrow morning in worship for the return of Donda Academy. With the help of our parents and community, we are back and returning with a vengeance!”
“The children of Donda are going to change the world,” the email continued. “Apologies for the late email! See you bright and early!”
As TMZ noted, “it’s unclear if it was Kanye who changed his mind — or if parents of the students are taking it upon themselves to educate the kids — but it’s certainly messy.”
