PROVIDENCE — Gov. Gina M. Raimondo had a personal meeting in Rhode Island with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, to discuss personalized learning in public schools and education innovation.
The couple has a foundation, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, which has a stated mission of bringing “world class engineering to the front lines of science and education.”
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Zuckerberg and Chan were in Rhode Island Monday visiting DelSesto Middle School in Providence. WJAR-TV NBC 10 followed the couple as they inspected a school that uses programming funded by the initiative.
Raimondo told reporters on Monday evening, following a R.I. Commerce Corp. meeting, that she found the Facebook CEO “engaging” and “substantive.” It was the first time she had met him, she said.
“I had a meeting with Mark and Priscilla to talk about the work that Rhode Island is doing around personalized learning. It’s a priority for them and their foundation. It’s a priority for us. We just exchanged ideas.”
Zuckerberg, whose company is based in California, was aware of the initiative launched in Rhode Island last school year to introduce computer science instruction at all middle and high schools, called CS4RI.
Raimondo said they discussed that, as well as other innovations in education and teaching.
“It was really just an opportunity for me to highlight some of the innovation we are bringing forth in Rhode Island,” she said.
Mary MacDonald is a PBN staff writer.
