Parents must sign NDAs at Kanye West’s Donda Academy
The singer’s secrecy about his school raises questions as parents are required to sign agreements to enrol
KANYE West has made headlines for almost every imaginable scenario he has been part of, from his relationship with Kim Kardashian to his presidential campaigns. Now, he is surfacing again with his academic side.
Many are dubious about West’s step into education and are figuring out what is happening in Donda Academy.
West founded the school last year and named it after his late mother, Professor Donda West. It is a private Christian institute located in Simi Valley, California. The school officially opened its 2022-2023 intake last August and offers classes from pre-kindergarten up to 12th grade.
As per Donda Academy’s website, there is a 10:1 student-to-teacher ratio with about 100 students enrolling and 12 full-time educators. Concerns over the teachers’ qualifications have been raised since West’s school is not accredited.
The Donda Academy website said that its and West’s mission is to provide the youth with the passion, purpose, and spiritual foundations needed to thrive in tomorrow’s world.
However, details surrounding the students’ curriculum and teaching staff remain unclear due to the vagueness of the website and reports of the parents having to sign nondisclosure agreements.
According to Rolling Stone, there is no clear description of who works or attends the academy. Neither the administrators nor the sports directors regarded inquiries sent by the publication about the school. West’s delegate also ignored requests for comments, as well as the parents of the students.
California only requires private schools to register with the Accrediting Commission of Schools, Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) annually for record-keeping.
But, these schools do not need to be accredited to operate. This also applies to private school teachers, where their certification is optional. The school’s LinkedIn page has thus only disclosed information on three employees.
Brianne Campbell takes on multiple roles in the school – the principal, executive director, and head of the school – according to the California Department of Education. Based on her LinkedIn page, her teaching background includes being a piano, guitar, and singing coach at a home company she founded.
The 28-year-old has only enrolled in a master’s degree programme in education at Pepperdine University in January and will be completing it next August, according to Rolling Stone. The school’s assistant principal, Allison Tidwell, has prior experience teaching second and third grade.
There is little information about what curriculum Donda Academy offers beyond what is shown on the website, as compared to other top private schools that offer full disclosure on their systems.
Kanye West’s affiliate and longtime friend Malik Yusef said that the academy offers classes like fashion, Japanese, restorative-justice instruction, and STEM. Nonetheless, the school’s website only shows the daily schedule for students, being “full school worship, core classes of language arts, mathematics, and science; lunch and recess; and enrichment courses including World Language, Visual Art, Film, Choir, and Parkour.”
People are questioning West’s integrity for his school and the reasoning behind parents’ choice to enrol their kids there.
“People choose to bring their kids to Donda Academy for a sense of privacy, a sense of care, a sense of concern, a sense of love, an environment of health, an environment of wealth, an environment of learning, and putting God as a focus,” said Yusef.
“The process of Donda school is for the parishioners, for the attendees. I don’t think Kanye needs to tell the world what he’s doing so that he can be under more scrutiny,” he added.
Tamar Andrews, the academy’s consultant, affirms that the agreement is informal and the school will share further information in due time.
“Honestly, we don’t care if people know about the school. The people that want to come to the school are looking for a good Christian school in that area, and they know that we’re there,” she said.
“There is also certain notoriety that comes with being affiliated with Donda. So, I don’t know what we have to advertise, which is a blessing and a curse,” she added.
As of now, it seems that children of celebrities that have relationships with West are enrolled. West’s children have not attended the school yet, but he is open to the idea of them attending part-time.
Yusef and Andrews believe in Donda Academy despite its concerns and feel it will successfully create the next generation of leaders and well-rounded students.
source – The Vibes
