It's sad for people who are not uber-wealthy and not Catholic. There aren't a lot of schools that attract families from public school backgrounds. They had many, which means they are piecing together tuition and can't make 5K, 20K, 50K donations to the school on the regular.

But because other schools operate this way, local schools have to attempt to compete to woo students. Maybe they overreached with building a high school or having such a massive campus to maintain.

They are all at risk. There's no hope that a large donor will swoop in at the last minute. This is happening to small schools and colleges all over the country. The cost of teacher salaries is rising - the gap between public and private is too high and tuition costs are growing and don't cover anything. Schools ask for money all the time and are ignored. People are shocked when schools are closed - but the schools ask for money and show you graduation pictures where the class size is smaller every year - and no one seems to put it together. Schools try new programs, going co ed, adding grades. It is sad for SSFS. but there will be more.

Anonymous wrote:I don’t have kids at independents and I’m a noob so take this all with a grain of salt. But I assumed that SSFS announced with the hope/expectation that a large donor would swoop in and save it?

It’s too late for that.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is always a good idea to check the 990 forms for the schools you are considering. Not all schools have them because many get a religious exemption.

My two favorite data points endowment and financial aid numbers.

How is the endowment fund total trend? I think endowments are what help schools weather ups and downs.

I also like to look at the financial aid total divided by the listed number of recipients. A healthy school will have about 1/4 of the student body receiving an average of 50% aid. Some schools might be able to swing more, especially those with large endowments.

That isn't how endowments work. Most of the funds in endowments ar earmarked for very specific programs or uses.

That’s not true - a large endowment 100% provides a cushion in hard times - we’ve seen this in action

The truth is that an endowment has to be many times larger than operating expenses to make a difference because usually the principal is not to be touched. But it all depends on the rules around the endowment when it’s established.

Anonymous wrote:It is always a good idea to check the 990 forms for the schools you are considering. Not all schools have them because many get a religious exemption.

My two favorite data points endowment and financial aid numbers.

How is the endowment fund total trend? I think endowments are what help schools weather ups and downs.

I also like to look at the financial aid total divided by the listed number of recipients. A healthy school will have about 1/4 of the student body receiving an average of 50% aid. Some schools might be able to swing more, especially those with large endowments.

I don't think you can see average percentage of aid students receive on a 990. Likewise, you might not also see what percentage of the student body receives aid. 990 reporting is pretty messy in many areas for most nonprofits.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:International boarding was part of the business model for that failed Intelsat school, too. Georgetown Prep and Madeira are two other schools around here with a bunch of international boarders, though I tend to assume Georgetown Prep has resources or donors who will see it through if it comes to that.

Georgetown Prep and Madeira are much older schools with larger endowments and bigger alumni/donor base

And robust boarding programs that are not currently declining.

Madeira just received a $60 million donation. I think they'll be okay!

Anonymous wrote:Maybe I'm in a different world, but per privateschoolreview.com, the 600 students at Sandy Springs made it quite large, by local standards. Not much smaller than Georgetown Day, slightly bigger than St Albans.

GDS has more than 1,000 students...

Anonymous wrote:Maybe I'm in a different world, but per privateschoolreview.com, the 600 students at Sandy Springs made it quite large, by local standards. Not much smaller than Georgetown Day, slightly bigger than St Albans.

The GDS high school alone is something like 500 students, plus everyone in grades PK-8. That's much more than the 600 students at SSFS.

Anonymous wrote:I don’t have kids at independents and I’m a noob so take this all with a grain of salt. But I assumed that SSFS announced with the hope/expectation that a large donor would swoop in and save it?

I doubt it. They would have so many parents either still pull out even if the school was saved or jump ship next year. Nobody is okay with this type of uncertainty being thrown at them.

Anonymous wrote:International boarding was part of the business model for that failed Intelsat school, too. Georgetown Prep and Madeira are two other schools around here with a bunch of international boarders, though I tend to assume Georgetown Prep has resources or donors who will see it through if it comes to that.

Here's my question: were the SSFS alumni even aware that the situation was so dire? I'm sensing a real lack of transparency here by their board on how desperate the situation had become. Was a real effort made to contact alumni and/or other potential donors to help bail them out?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is always a good idea to check the 990 forms for the schools you are considering. Not all schools have them because many get a religious exemption.

My two favorite data points endowment and financial aid numbers.

How is the endowment fund total trend? I think endowments are what help schools weather ups and downs.

I also like to look at the financial aid total divided by the listed number of recipients. A healthy school will have about 1/4 of the student body receiving an average of 50% aid. Some schools might be able to swing more, especially those with large endowments.

That isn't how endowments work. Most of the funds in endowments ar earmarked for very specific programs or uses.

That’s not true - a large endowment 100% provides a cushion in hard times - we’ve seen this in action

I don’t have kids at independents and I’m a noob so take this all with a grain of salt. But I assumed that SSFS announced with the hope/expectation that a large donor would swoop in and save it?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:International boarding was part of the business model for that failed Intelsat school, too. Georgetown Prep and Madeira are two other schools around here with a bunch of international boarders, though I tend to assume Georgetown Prep has resources or donors who will see it through if it comes to that.

Georgetown Prep and Madeira are much older schools with larger endowments and bigger alumni/donor base

And robust boarding programs that are not currently declining.

Both could pivot to day and still have to turn kid away. They are located in areas with more wealth. The local boarding school that could close is Foxcroft. They are pretty small and are reliant on full pay boarders.

Are we expecting the number of people who focus on boarding their daughter and her horse at a school known for it's equestrian team to go down globally?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:International boarding was part of the business model for that failed Intelsat school, too. Georgetown Prep and Madeira are two other schools around here with a bunch of international boarders, though I tend to assume Georgetown Prep has resources or donors who will see it through if it comes to that.

Georgetown Prep and Madeira are much older schools with larger endowments and bigger alumni/donor base

And robust boarding programs that are not currently declining.

Both could pivot to day and still have to turn kid away. They are located in areas with more wealth. The local boarding school that could close is Foxcroft. They are pretty small and are reliant on full pay boarders.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:International boarding was part of the business model for that failed Intelsat school, too. Georgetown Prep and Madeira are two other schools around here with a bunch of international boarders, though I tend to assume Georgetown Prep has resources or donors who will see it through if it comes to that.

Georgetown Prep and Madeira are much older schools with larger endowments and bigger alumni/donor base

And robust boarding programs that are not currently declining.