Inside Donda Academy, Ye's New Private School In Los Angeles

SIMI VALLEY, CA — Ye, the artist formerly known as Kanye West, has offered few windows into his private Christian school in Simi Valley as the school's second school-year kicks off.

The K-8 school opened on Nov. 18, 2021 at 1625 Tierra Rejada Rd, according to the California Department of Education. The inaugural class had 21 students and this year's incoming classes have roughly 100, notably excluding Ye's own kids, Rolling Stone reported.

Kicking off the students' 2022-2023 school year, Boston Celtics player Jaylen Brown visited the school on Sept. 2.

"Donda Academy 3 kids gave me their autograph today and said they will be famous I believe them," he wrote in an Instagram post.

The post shows the students in their all-black uniforms, complete with all-black Yeezy shoes, which originally sold for $80 but has jumped in price to around $200, according to a Sports Illustrated shoe blog.

The school's website touts a 10:1 student-to-teacher ratio and class sizes of less than 12 students. The school's website offers some insight into the school's curriculum, outlining a daily schedule including full school worship, core classes in language arts, math and science and a number of enrichment courses including world language, visual art, film, choir and parkour.

Students will participate in two enrichment classes each day, according to the school's website. The Donda Academy website claims the school offers K-12th grades, but the California Department of Education only lists the school as K-8.

Students are taught "to be a reflection of God's glory in the world," according to the school's website.

The website also offers a number of "Donda Rules" guiding the school's philosophy, including: "Students must be confident in forming ideas. If not, their writing will suffer; and "writing should be regarded as an activity that necessitates critical thinking, an aspect that is fundamental to all good writing."

"Our project-based learning model allows students to guide instruction based on their interests and skills. We promote ideation, prototyping, and real-world implementation," according to the school's website.

Tuition for the school is $15,000 per year but around half the students have been awarded financial assistance and scholarships straight from West's network, Donda consultant Tamar Andrews told Rolling Stone. The school currently has 16 full-time teachers.

The school is not yet accredited, according to the Western Association of Schools and Colleges' database. The school applied for accreditation, Andrews told Rolling Stone. California schools go through an accreditation and regular review process with the agency to ensure the quality of its teachers, coursework, facilities, equipment and supplies. Some colleges and universities require accredited degrees and credits, according to Rolling Stone.

"Attending an accredited institution is often a requirement for employment and can be helpful later on if you want to transfer academic credits to another institution," the U.S. Department of Education wrote on its website.

Parents were reportedly asked to sign an informal confidentiality agreement with enrollment, a source told Rolling Stone. Other sources told Rolling Stone that everyone associated with the school was asked to sign a formal confidentiality agreement.

The school's athletics program has already garnered a significant amount of attention. The verified Instagram account @dondasports for the Donda Doves basketball team and Donda Sports program has 283,000 followers. The school's all-black athletics gear is for sale (and sold out) online, with a hoodie donning to school's logo selling for $200 and gym shorts selling for $140.

The head of school is Brianne Campbell, who also serves as choir director for Ye's Sunday Service Collective, according to her Linkedin profile. Campbell also founded a music academy in Los Angeles in 2018, seemingly her only experience in education. She is currently enrolled in Pepperdine University's Graduate School of Education and Psychology, according to her Linkedin profile.

"Using an ethic of integrity and care, Donda Academy prepares 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," the school's description on Linkedin reads.

The administration is rounded out by Assistant Principal Allison Tidwell, who previously worked in the Chicago public school system, and athletic director Shayla Scott, who previously worked at a prep school in Pittsburgh, according to Rolling Stone.

The name "Donda" is a tribute to Ye's late mother, Donda West, who was a professor at Chicago State University. Donda was also the title of West's two most recent studio albums, released in 2021 and 2022.