Donda Academy

Overview

Donda Academy is a private Christian school founded by rapper Kanye West and named after his mother Donda. The school, based in Simi Valley, California, opened in around August 2021 and teaches kindergarten through the 12th grade. It provides courses including worship, choir, visual arts and parkour. It is largely known for its basketball team the Donda Doves, which includes some top prospective high school players. In September 2022, the school became a subject of increased interest after Rolling Stone reported that parents have to sign non-disclosure agreements to enroll their kids, also revealing that the school is not yet accredited.

History

The first known mention of Donda Academy online is an August 29th, 2021 tweet by Twitter^[1] user @____NanaKong, writing, "my kids will go to Donda Academy." On September 2nd of that year, the Twitter^[2] account @dondasplace, an account linked to West, tweeted, "DONDA ACADEMY For toddlers to 8th grade More info to come," garnering over 180 likes in a year. This is the first official announcement of the academy. Twitter user @PhotosOfKanye made a tweet^[3] announcing enrollment that day, garnering over 940 likes in a year. On the same day, the @dondasplace Twitter^[4] account posted a graphic sharing the school's mission statement, garnering over 490 likes in a year (shown below).

Donda Academy Basketball Team

On October 1st, 2021, Twitter^[5] user @ScoopB made a post sharing that UNC recruit Robert Dillingham, a prospective NBA player, moved to Donda Academy. On October 4th, he tweeted^[6] that Adidas would allegedly provide apparel and footwear to the team. On October 5th, Complex^[7] reported that another 5-star recruit, Jahki Howard, was joining Donda Academy. High Snobriety^[8] also reported on Donda Academy recruiting basketball players. On December 23rd, YouTuber SLAM HIGH SCHOOL posted footage of Donda Academy's homecoming game, garnering over 48,000 views in 10 months (shown below).

Continued Spread (Non-Disclosure Agreements, Accreditation Status)

On September 15th, 2022, Rolling Stone^[9] published an article titled, "What the Hell Is Going on at Kanye West’s Mysterious New Private School?" where they claim that a source told them parents have to sign an NDA as part of the admission process. The article also alleges that the school is not yet an accredited learning institute, claiming the school was still looking for teachers as the school year began. On September 23rd, the ABC News YouTube channel uploaded a segment from an episode of Dateline where West talks briefly about Donda Academy, garnering over 660,000 views in three weeks (shown below).

On October 2nd, West posted a video to his TikTok^[10] account @ye showing students at Donda Academy during what appears to be a choir practice, garnering over 14 million views in a week (shown below). On October 7th, Twitter^[11] user @FriendEden100 posted the video, writing, "Kanye West opened a Christian private school called Donda Academy. Parents must sign NDAs to have their children attend. Price: $15,000 a year. The school’s not accredited. Here’s a video of kids from his Donda school singing 'Good Morning, Donda.'" garnering over 24,000 likes in five days. On October 11th, Twitter^[12] user @okQhawe retweeted the video, writing, "Netflix 10 years from now: Escaping Donda Academy," garnering over 90,000 likes and 11,000 retweets in a day. The same day, Capital Xtra^[13] reported that West was trying to get his kids enrolled at Donda Academy.

Online Presence

Donda.org

Donda Academy is represented through the website Donda.org,^[14] where visitors can learn more about the academy, including more about what courses are offered, the choir program, an admissions page and a "How We Learn" page that highlights the school's small class sizes of 12 students max and the daily learning routine (shown below).

Uniforms

Several people have posted about the supposed uniforms at Donda Academy, which look to consist of Yeezy branded clothing and shoes. On August 31st, 2021, Twitter^[15] user @babyxheem posted, "Donda Academy got the hardest school uniforms of all time," with alleged photos of the uniforms (shown below, left). On September 1st, 2022, Twitter^[16] user @VloneOmie posted another photo of the students, writing, "Can we talk about how the Donda Academy students are wearing uniforms that cost probably $2000 USD on StockX rn" (shown below, right).

The Donda Doves

Donda Academy is largely known online for its basketball team, the Donda Doves, with videos of them playing basketball routinely posted online. In February 2022, the Donda Doves played their homecoming game. On February 6th, 2022, a video was posted of the team playing, with celebrities and rappers including West and DaBaby in attendance, garnering over 97,000 views in eight months (shown below, left). On March 3rd, YouTube channel SLAM posted a video titled, "The TRUE STORY of Kanye West's Donda Academy Basketball Team" where they speak to players on the team about why they joined, garnering over 34,000 views in seven months (shown below, right).

Search Interest

External References