Kanye West back in class

Rapper to open school in the area




LEARNING CENTER—A view of 1625 Tierra Rejada Road, site of the proposed new school, on Sept. 21. RICHARD GILLARD/Acorn Newspapers

LEARNING CENTER—A view of 1625 Tierra Rejada Road, site of the proposed new school, on Sept. 21.    RICHARD GILLARD/Acorn Newspapers

Music and fashion mogul Kanye West announced earlier this year his intentions to open a small private school in Southern California. The Acorn learned this week that the billionaire celebrity plans to bring the school to a 4-acre parcel on Tierra Rejada Road in the unincorporated area between Moorpark and Simi Valley.

The school will be named Donda, in honor of his late mother, Donda West, who died in 2007. “Donda” is also the name of West’s latest album.

According to an Aug. 30 permit report issued by Ventura County’s Building and Safety division, Donda Academy Inc. has requested a change of occupancy for the former Simi Valley Stoneridge Preparatory School property at 1625 Tierra Rejada Road.

The property was listed for lease by Santa Clarita-based Re/ Max Crissman Commercial Services.

Tim Crissman, the lead broker, referred all questions about the property to the agent representing Donda Academy, Tyrone McKillen with the Los Angeles-based Plus Real Estate Group.

McKillen told The Acorn that the school’s name is Donda.

The property includes a 5,728-square-foot school with classrooms, labs, offices, kitchen, restrooms, storage, a basketball court and an open field, according to the lease information posted by Crissman.

According to a September report from MTV News, Donda will be a tuition-free private school that will serve 60 students from kindergarten through high school. West’s goal, MTV said, is to honor his mother’s legacy in academia.

Donda West was a professor in the English department at Chicago State University.

While the school’s website is mostly blank, it does include a mission statement: “Finding the intersection between faith and the innovation of the future, Donda Academy is focused on equipping students with an education that will last in the ever-changing world.”

Attempts to reach Beulah McLoyd, who is listed on the website as the school’s educational consultant, have been unsuccessful.

Simi Valley Stoneridge Preparatory School closed in the early 2010s after operating on Tierra Rejada Road for many years.

Stoneridge had been in existence since 1965. It started in Calabasas as the Marie Cutler School before moving to Tarzana and finally settling in Simi Valley.

Once a member of the California Interscholastic Federation, Stoneridge became an independent prep school after repeated problems with rule violations related to its basketball program, which attracted some of the nation’s top recruits to the tiny campus with fewer than 50 students.

West has homes in Hidden Hills and Cody, Wyoming. According to reports, he recently bought a home in Malibu. The father of four has a net worth of more than $1 billion, according to Forbes.