Latest news with #ManhattanCountrySchool
New York Times
06-06-2025
- Business
- New York Times
How a Manhattan Private School With a Utopian Mission Suddenly Collapsed
In early October, parents at Manhattan Country School were panicked to find out in the pages of the business press that their school faced foreclosure. For nearly 60 years, families had been coming to Manhattan Country for its scrappy intimacy and a dedication to equity that went well beyond performative rhetoric and the reductive simplicities of D.E.I. Inc. But now it was not clear how much longer this sustained utopia on the Upper West Side could persist. Since the beginning, Manhattan Country offered sliding-scale tuition, a model that had been devised with the help of Frank Roosevelt, the grandson of F.D.R., who was an economist and one of the school's longtime trustees. Affluent families paid full price while others paid according to some calculated proportion of their income. The school, which runs from preschool to eighth grade, was educating not only the children of liberal aristocrats but also the children of undocumented immigrants. Until a few years ago, the school did not require tax returns or any other form of income verification to establish need. Parents were drawn to M.C.S. fully appreciating that it did not function in the same universe as Trinity, say, or Collegiate, nearby private schools that have been rooted in the city for hundreds of years and have amassed endowments of tens of millions of dollars. Resources were tight; parents were always pitching in to do things. The hands-on aspect of the school's culture was so much a part of its allure. Still, parents had little sense of how insecure the future of the institution had become. 'My favorite students were always the ones from M.C.S., and so when I had my son, I knew that I wanted him to go,' Olga Ramos, the deputy director of Bard High School and a parent at Manhattan Country, told me. 'But this left me really blindsided.' By the spring, bankruptcy proceedings would show that the school owed creditors more than $27 million and held $82,000 in its bank account. Recently, the last day of school was pushed up a week because money ran out. At the same time, parents were scrambling to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars to meet back payroll for teachers and other staff members, which they did. They were also busy creating a food pantry to help the employees get by in the meantime. On Oct. 7, Flushing Bank filed a $3 million suit against Manhattan Country School for a default on interest payments tied to a line of credit. Flushing also holds the mortgage on the school's West 85th Street building, which M.C.S. was struggling to pay. The day the news was reported in Crain's New York Business, the former board chair and one of the school's major donors, a lawyer named Roxanne Elings, sent an email to the community trying to calm nerves. Trustees, she said, were working closely with the bank and anticipated 'resolution shortly.' Two days later, she sent out a second note, more urgent and sobering in tone. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Bloomberg
22-05-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
NY Private School Pleads for Donors to Stay Open After Declaring Bankruptcy
An Upper West Side private school is trying to raise enough cash to stay afloat until the end of the school year after a New York bankruptcy judge rejected its request for an emergency loan. Manhattan Country School and a little-known foundation called Casa Laxmi are asking for donations to make payroll and keep the school open until graduation on June 12, according to Kiran Kulkarni, Casa Laxmi's chief executive officer and chairman of the school's board.
Bloomberg
20-05-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
NYC Private School Faces Imminent Closure as Judge Rejects Loan
A private school on Manhattan's Upper West Side is at risk of shutting as soon as this week after a bankruptcy judge rejected an emergency financing plan that would keep it open. Manhattan Country School, a progressive institution that was founded in 1966, has been using next year's tuition deposits to make payroll and borrowed from its board members to keep the lights on. The school had bet its future on a partnership with a foundation called Casa Laxmi, which offered an $8 million loan with a 12% interest rate to sustain it for the next four months.
Mint
16-05-2025
- Business
- Mint
Progressive NYC Private School Fighting Foreclosure Files Bankruptcy
(Bloomberg) -- Manhattan Country School, an Upper West Side private school promoting social justice and a progressive academic curriculum that is battling possible foreclosure, has filed bankruptcy. MCS sought court protection Friday listing assets and liabilities of between $10 million and $50 million each on its Chapter 11 petition. The school, which operates on a sliding-scale tuition model based on families' ability to pay, has said it suffered losses during the Covid-19 pandemic from helping impacted parents by reducing prices. The maximum annual tuition is $59,000. Parents have been worrying about MCS' finances and future since October's foreclosure action by Flushing Bank. Filing Chapter 11 halts that effort and other collection actions against MCS, allowing the school to continue operating normally while attempting to resolve the litigation. MCS is the latest progressive school to run into financial struggle. The Blue School, a progressive arts school founded by founded by members of the Blue Man Group, closed in 2023 after running into debt troubles as enrollment dropped during the pandemic. 'What's different here and sad is typically I've seen new schools fail,' said Emily Glickman, an educational consultant who helps families with private-school admissions and had been getting worried calls from MCS parents before Friday's filing. 'MCS is a school with a rich history here in New York City.' A bankruptcy lawyer representing MCS didn't immediately return a message seeking comment. The school said in its bankruptcy petition that the value of its property on 85th Street in Manhattan is $38 million. MCS, which took out an initial $2.5 million loan in 2017, said in court filings it was holding talks with Flushing Bank when the foreclosure action was filed last October. Flushing has alleged MCS owes at least $3 million plus interest. Founded in 1966 to reflect 'the vision of the Civil Rights Movement,' MCS' student body has 'no racial majority and broad economic diversity,' according to the school's website. The school serves kindergarten through eight graders in Manhattan and also owns a farm in Roxbury, New York, where it holds classes in cooking, farming, nature and textiles. The case is Manhattan Country School, number 25-11009, in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York More stories like this are available on
Bloomberg
16-05-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Progressive NYC Private School Fighting Foreclosure Files Bankruptcy
Manhattan Country School, an Upper West Side private school promoting social justice and a progressive academic curriculum that is battling possible foreclosure, has filed bankruptcy. MCS sought court protection Friday listing assets and liabilities of between $10 million and $50 million each on its Chapter 11 petition. The school, which operates on a sliding-scale tuition model based on families' ability to pay, has said it suffered losses during the Covid-19 pandemic from helping impacted parents by reducing prices. The maximum annual tuition is $59,000.
