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A Long Island-based lending institution filed a lawsuit in Manhattan Supreme Court on Monday alleging that a private school on the Upper West Side has an unpaid bill of $3 million.
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In a 15-page complaint against Manhattan Country School, located at 150 West 85th Street (between Columbus and Amsterdam avenues), Flushing Bank alleges the not-for-profit school entered into a forbearance agreement in 2022 but defaulted on its terms, failing to make the required monthly payments over the summer. Records show that Michele Sola is the signatory on the original loan agreements from 2017 and 2019, as first reported by Crain’s New York Business. The independent coeducational PreK-8th grade school now faces foreclosure.
Manhattan Country School, founded in 1966, occupies a campus of roughly 40,000 square feet. The school prides itself on promoting “radical love,” emphasizing education that encourages students to engage in social issues, including activism and working towards a more just world, alongside their core curriculum. Their website also highlights a commitment to teaching “Love for people with diverse perspectives, identities, and lived experiences, as well as a deep love for our environment.”
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Tuition at Manhattan Country School starts at $51,000 for early childhood education and operates on a sliding scale for qualifying families. The rate increases to $57,000 for fifth through eighth grades, according to the school’s website. The institution’s website says it has 256 students, and has a second campus in Roxbury, New York where they have a farm.
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The school states that their farm in the Catskill Mountains is one of the most significant parts of the academic experience, as students immerse themselves in nature. They also develop culinary skills, learn about nutrition and food and science systems, and gain an understanding of the relationship between their farm and the food it yields to their table.
Carmine Branagan, the chief operating officer and co-head of Manhattan Country School, declined to comment on the foreclosure matter.
Attorney Susan McWalters, a partner at the firm Certilman Balin, is representing Flushing Bank, but did not return a request for comment.
We’ll continue to update you on this matter as it develops.
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As a parent of a child at MCS, I think it’s important to note that the tuition mentioned in this article is misleading. The tuition does not start at $51k for early childhood education and increase to $57k for 5th through 8th grade. Rather, the *maximum* tuition for early childhood is $51k and the *maximum* for 5th through 8th grade is $57k.
MCS unique among NYC independent schools in having a sliding scale tuition system. Sliding scale tuition enables 75% of MCS families to pay tuition based on their means and reflects the school’s mission-based commitment to educating children in broad racial, cultural, and socioeconomic backgrounds. Many families are paying significantly less than the maximum and the school relies on fundraising to bridge this gap.
Whike that sounds nice it seems it wasn’t a valid business model.
Why would anyone send young children to school to be taught what they should be learning from their parents??? School should be teaching math, science, history, English, reading etc….. Leave the rest to the parents.