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2015 School Of Art Institute Of Chicago Commencement Ceremony© GettyImages

Kanye West is opening a K-12 school in California called the Donda Academy

Read the school’s mission statement below


Jovita Trujillo
Jovita Trujillo - Los Angeles
Senior WriterLos Angeles
OCTOBER 7, 2021 8:54 PM EDT

Kanye West is back on the grind after finally releasing his 10th studio album “Donda” but his next venture isn’t in music, it’s in education. Billboard reported Thursday that the rapper is planning to open a k-12 prep school in California called the Donda Academy. According to the website, “Donda academy is focused on equipping students with an education that will last in the ever-changing world.” It will also find the intersection “between faith and the innovation of the future.” The school‘s mission is to use “an ethic of integrity and care,” and “prepare students to become the next generation of leaders, thinkers and innovators by providing them with a world-class education that includes a rigorous core curriculum, and an emphasis on sustainability, creativity, critical thinking, and problem solving,” per its website.

2015 School Of Art Institute Of Chicago Commencement Ceremony© GettyImages

It seems like the academy will offer dfferent “pathways” because that is one of the questions on the admission formAs noted by Billboard there may also be a heavy focus on its basketball program.  Zion Cruz, Jack Howard, Robert Dillingham, and Jalen Hooks have reportedly committed to attending the academy and in a since-deleted Instagram post, Howard wrote “I will be moving to California and I will be transferring to Donda academy, I want to thank you Norcross and the whole blue devil family still will be my family. #donda.”

Hooks told the Indianapolis star, “It’s just one of those things you can’t pass up. “It was more of a family decision, too. All of us just felt like it was a chance to reach my full potential and grow and get ready for the college level,” the baller explained.

The news could explain why the “Gold Digger” singer was looking at a plot of land between Moorpark and Simi valley in Los Angeles two weeks ago. Per Simi Valley Acorn, the property includes a 5,728-square-foot school with classrooms, labs, offices, kitchen, restrooms, storage, a basketball court, and an open field.