SSFS Closing

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Current parent of an 11th grader whose senior year is now ruined. Rage isn't even strong enough of a word to describe my feelings towards the Board of Trustees.

My initial thoughts:

Why the f**k didn't they send this on Friday? At least this way the kids could have the weekend to gather their thoughts and parents could've had the two days off to start to strategize and plan.

$14 million in debt and they thought that student enrollment would fix it? Does any of the BOT members have any idea how finance works?

They hired a new HOS who quit his job? How could they in good conscience have gone through that process?

They're still doing the AIMS process? I'm sorry why? Are they joking?

The email and FAQ are laughably insincere and insufficient!

I'm so so sad for all of the kids especially the current junior class, and all of the wonderful teachers and staff who's livelihoods have been thrown into turmoil by stupid decisions made by an unaccountable volunteer Board.

This is infuriating!

Is it that they expected to soldier on, but with people worried about Trump and the economy, they didn't get enough reenrollment contracts and couldn't find new ones?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No idea what I’m going to do. We were starting there in the fall. Daughter was so excited to start middle school there. She had a blast during her shadow visit. They had quite the spread for new families…my mind is just blown

Green Acres may have a few spots open in MS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wonder where displaced students will go.

Barry or Sidwell

It’s spelled Barrie.

Burke is also an option

Yeah, Barrie, Burke, and Green Acres as options.

[Anonymous]

This is absolutely unbelievable. I am in full shock. Also a brand new family - about to start this Fall. We turned down McLean and Field, feeling like SSFS would be a better fit. We're calling both schools to beg to see if the spot is still available. I should have seen the writing on the wall but I had blinders on I guess

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wonder where displaced students will go.

Barry or Sidwell

It’s spelled Barrie.

Burke is also an option

Yeah, Barrie, Burke, and Green Acres as options.

Barrie and Green Acres will close next, so I wouldn't get on those sinking ships either. Burke, Field, McLean, Woods Academy, maybe Sheridan. I think just start calling around. I'm sure many schools will try to help if they have open spaces.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My heart goes out to those juniors, sophomores and freshman and anyone just accepted. We have a current senior and are reeling from the news. Some staff had spouses that lost jobs in fed cuts a month ago. Now the whole faculty and admin have only two months of employment. This is just unbelievable. We have loved ssfs despite the turmoil. The staff were dedicated, caring and the education was very good. This has cast a pall over graduation. Just heartbroken....

Yeah, graduation is not going to be normal. None of the rest of the year will be normal.

So much loss - so many of us are Feds or fed adjacent, too, that many SSFS families are facing double/triple whammy

[Anonymous]

For those in K-8, you should reach out to the Sheridans, Lowells, Norwoods, St. Pats, etc. to see whether they might have openings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've been waiting for this to happen since I heard SSFS was struggling to bring in students from China. There was no way to replace that revenue.

This news makes me sad even though I'm not surprised. SSFS has been a wonderful school. The faculty and administration are serious about intellectual vigor and serious about morality. When it comes to Quaker values, they don't just talk the talk. They walk the walk, consistently, unlike another Quaker school in the area. (I have experience with both SFS and SSFS.)

Private schools are very expensive to run. This type of thing is going to happen more and more at schools that don't attract very wealthy students and donors. Same for liberal arts colleges.

They are expensive as they are not managing the money properly.

[Anonymous]

Some of you may want to look at Friends Academy in Ijamsville.

[Anonymous]

Well, that’s not surprising since it seems that half the students there were children of faculty and staff who got a free tuition ride. Not a good business plan!

[Anonymous]

Unbelievable. We turned down a 9th grade spot last year -- we wanted SSFS, our child didn't -- and we ended up losing the $4000 deposit. In retrospect, so glad we listened to her. But I feel terrible for all the families who accepted or have kids there now and I'm outraged that the school did not take action earlier, when families could still apply elsewhere.

[Anonymous]

They should not have sent that announcement when kids were still at sports.

[Anonymous]

We’re going to start for 2025-2026. Public it is. Time to save some money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well, that’s not surprising since it seems that half the students there were children of faculty and staff who got a free tuition ride. Not a good business plan!

Free tuition for faculty/staff kids ended a long time ago.(more than 20 years ago) Faculty/staff have (had) to apply for financial aid just like everyone else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some of you may want to look at Friends Academy in Ijamsville.

Friends Meeting School?

What can you tell us about it?