ET FIRST: Gwyneth & Chris Informed Kids' School About Separation Last Week

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Chris Martin and Gwyneth Paltrow are breaking up.

UPDATE: A source close to the Los Angeles private elementary school attended by Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin's children revealed to ET's Brooke Anderson that the couple told the school last week about their separation. The disclosure to the children's classes was apparently made as a courtesy to prepare them for the added media attention that would come once the announcement became public.

Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin are separating after a decade of marriage.

"It is with hearts full of sadness that we have decided to separate," the couple posted to Gwyneth's website Goop.com on Tuesday, March 25.


RELATED PICS: Gwyneth's Romance Timeline

The statement continued, "We have been working hard for well over a year, some of it together, some of it separated, to see what might have been possible between us, and we have come to the conclusion that while we love each other very much we will remain separate. We are, however, and always will be a family, and in many ways we are closer than we have ever been. We are parents first and foremost, to two incredibly wonderful children and we ask for their and our space and privacy to be respected at this difficult time. We have always conducted our relationship privately, and we hope that as we consciously uncouple and coparent, we will be able to continue in the same manner."

Gwyneth, 41, and Chris, 37, share two children together -- nine-year-old Apple and seven-year-old Moses.

In September, Gwyneth admitted to hiccups in her marriage with the Coldplay frontman during an interview on Good Morning America. "It's not easy to be married for 10 years and we definitely have big ups and downs. We laugh it out," Gwyneth told ABC News' Nick Watt. Laughing, she went on to add, "So far we're sticking it out."

The couple met in Oct. 2002, and were married on Dec. 5, 2003 in Southern California.

Prior to announcing the split, Gwyneth took to Twitter to promote her appearance on Tuesday's Glee. She sang Party All the Time.


Are you surprised by this split?