Angelina Jolie, 47, is back in Los Angeles after helping Zahara, 17, get settled at Spelman College in Atlanta, GA and sources tell HollywoodLife EXCLUSIVELY that her kids — Maddox, 21, Pax, 18, Shiloh, 16, and twins Vivienne and Knox, 14, — are “stepping up” to help her cope with the big change. “Sending Zahara off to college has been tough for Angelina, but luckily her kids have been stepping up to make sure she doesn’t get too down about it,” shares an insider. “They’re all teenagers now, but they’re still so in-tune with their mom, they know when she needs some extra TLC. They’ve been cooking dinner for her and staying home at night to watch movies, they’re all very attentive. Angelina says she feels like the luckiest mom to have such great kids.”
Although Zahara is busy adjusting to life on campus, our source says she’s still showing plenty of love to her family. “She’s still in constant contact with them all, they have a family text chain so she sends updates and checks in, she’s very attached,” adds the source.
Zahara’s prestigious college was founded in 1881 and is located in Atlanta, a 4.5 hour flight from Los Angeles. “The great thing is Atlanta isn’t far, so they’re planning to visit a lot. Angelina’s even looking into renting a place near Spelman to make family visits easier,” says the source.
And it’s not just Angelina that’s missing Zahara, a second source says the entire family will be visiting her as often as they can. “The whole family has really rallied around Zahara as she goes off to college. Everybody knows how close Angie and Zahara are and they really wanted to let her know how excited they were for her before she left. Maddox even spent his birthday weekend helping his little sister get packed and moved to Atlanta. It meant a lot to him to see his first sister off to college. They’re all incredibly proud of her but they know she’ll always keep in touch. There are plenty of opportunities to visit which they’ll definitely be doing as often as they can.”
In spite of her bittersweet feelings about sending Zahara off to college, Angelina is “super proud” and even took to Instagram to celebrate her daughter’s new alma mater. Angelina revealed Zahara’s journey at Spelman by sharing a snapshot to her social media page on July 31. In the caption, which can be seen above the Oscar winner wrote: “Zahara with her Spelman sisters! Congratulations to all new students starting this year. A very special place and an honor to have a family member as a new Spelman girl.”