Did You Know That Kanye West--Who's Claimed to Have Never Read a Book--Owns a School?

Originally believed to be in Ventura County, CA, documents from the Dept. of Education, recently obtained by Insider, show that the institution moved to an LA suburb.

Amidst the many controversies sparked by the mentally-ill musical genius, Ye's [formerly known as Kanye West] secretive private school, Donda Academy, has reentered public consciousness.

Named after his mother, Donda West, who was a professor at the Chicago State University where she was a chair of the Department of English, Communication, Media & Theatre and passed away in 2007, the unaccredited Donda Academy originally opened on the site of defunct Simi Valley Stoneridge Prepatory School in September 2022.

Originally the Simi Valley Stoneridge Prepatory School, the site became home to Donda Academy in 2022.

While much is public about the academy thanks to their website [donda.org], the ere of secrecy comes from rumors that the school requires parents to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement as part of their child/children's enrollment process.

Ye & the Donda Academy basketball team, gracing the cover of SLAM in January 2022. [Photo Credit: SLAM Magazine]

Due to the rapper's incendiary public statements, however, they've experienced some... turbulence. In October 2022, Jewish educator at the academy, Tamar Andrews, resigned citing Ye's antisemitic statements as the reason. Additionally, the Donda Academy basketball team lost two of its star players, JJ Taylor and Chuck Bailey III, following the cancellation of the team's invitations to the Hoophall Classic and Kentucky Play-By-Play Classic showcases--a result of the same antisemitic remarks by Ye.

While the school claims to have enrolled around 100 students--many of whom are children of celebrities--documents obtained by Insider show an enrollment of 21 for the 2022-23 school year--and those seem to be dwindling! The academy's existential uncertainty due to ties with its founder have many parents pulling their children from the institution.

An example of that uncertainty came on October 27 & 28, 2022. On the 27th, parents were notified via email that the academy had cancelled the remainder of the 2022-23 school year, planning to reopen prior to the 2023-24 school year. However, only hours after that email went, it was followed by an additional "lol jk" email, informing parents that the school would actually reopen on October 28, 2022--just one day later. Upon receipt of the second email, Keyshia Cole pulled her son out of the school [also providing evidence to the contrary of the supposed NDA-requirement for parents by the school, saying in a tweet following her son's removal, "And there was no NDA signed. Idk who may have but that wasn't brought up to us."]

While the school boasts a 10:1 ratio of students to teachers, with no class exceeding 12 students, the educational institution has come under scrutiny for a variety of other critical reasons. For example, following the "full school worship" each day--a religious requirement that shouldn't bother parents who were made aware of the school's reputation for creating "Christ followers" per the school's website--students would take part in Parkour Enrichment Classes.

But it's not just the inclusion of the gymnastically artistic training discipline of parkour that insinuates lacking curriculum--they're also not backed by any meaningful educational institution. As private schools in California are only required to register with the state and are not required to be accredited or licensed, Donda Academy is breaking no rules by lacking accreditation. And it seems to be of no interest to those in charge as they have not even sought accreditation from the Western Association of Schools & Colleges.

Even still, it wasn't until the incendiary beliefs of the school's founder became publicly potent enough to affect the reputations of the parents enrolling their children there that those same parents decided to make a positive change to their child's education process. But better late than never, right? The late exit, however, makes more sense for staff members who were attempting to build something great, such as Antonio Brown, president of Donda Sports [public resignation to left].

The school is currently being operated under the direction of principal Brianna Campbell, a Masters student at Pepperdine University.