Kanye West’s to-do list never seems to end. In the last two months, he’s dropped DONDA, produced for Ghostface Killah, dealt with Chris Brown, bought new properties on two continents, and set himself on fire. Indeed, it seems the right time for him to add another item to the list: start a prep school.
West announced back in September that he has been designing a school in California. While details were few and far between, we can now start to see it take shape. The prep school will be located in Simi Valley, California, per the Simi Valley Acorn.
DONDA Academy will host sixty students, grades K-12, tuition-free. The school is to be fitted with all the necessities of a modern prep school. In a tweet from September, the DONDA Academy Twitter account gave a brief description of the school’s educational mission. It describes itself as “the intersection between faith and innovation of the future,” promising “an education that will last in the ever-changing world.”
DONDA ACADEMY
FINDING THE
INTERSECTION BETWEEN FAITH AND THE INNOVATION OF THE FUTUREDONDA ACADEMY IS FOCUSED ON EQUIPPING STUDENTS WITH AN EDUCATION THAT WILL LAST IN THE EVER-CHANGING WORLDhttps://t.co/ssCgtyPZIe pic.twitter.com/oHl2dfTClM
— Place Magazine (@placemgzn) September 2, 2021
But first things first: build a legendary prep school basketball team.
DONDA Academy domination
While the DONDA Academy has yet to name a head coach, the powerhouse team is starting to come together. The newly acquired lineup consists of five-star Class of 2023 guard Robert Dillingham, four-star 2022 guard Zion Cruz, four-star forward Jalen Hooks, and 2024 forward Jakhi Howard.
Joining them may be other high school legends like five-star 2022 center Kyle Filipowski and four-star 2023 forward Gus Yalden. Both Filipowski and Yalden changed their Instagram profile pictures to black, in league with some of the other commits in a nod to the DONDA album cover.
Donda Academy transfers Jahki Howard, Zion Cruz and Robert Dillingham have received a follow from @KanyeWest on Instagram and changed their profile pics to a black icon.
Interestingly, 2022 Duke commit Kyle Filipowski and unsigned 2023 four-star Gus Yalden have done the same. pic.twitter.com/yiY1wJSbZv
— Jacob Polacheck (@PolacheckKSR) October 6, 2021
Once assembled, the dream team will stand as formidable competition to its league rivals, the Sierra Canyon School. Sierra Canyon is known throughout the country as a high school basketball juggernaut, featuring Amari Bailey and Bronny James.
Garrett C. Owen