Parents scrambled to save The Croft School in Boston, Providence
Croft promised the environment of a diverse urban school, with the perks of a private institution for $35,000 a year — an affordable price, compared with other private schools. Families with financial need were offered steep discounts and aid at the for-profit school.
Teachers were beloved, offering not just rigorous instruction but robust social and emotional support.
All of that was ripped away on a Friday morning in mid-March, when an email from Croft’s board alerted Ullman and hundreds of other parents to the worst: Croft faced collapse. Within a few days, the board would accuse Scott Given, Croft’s now 46-year-old founder, of hiding $13 million in debt and fabricating financial records.
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“It’s not just a school, it’s a community,” Ullman told the Globe a few days after receiving the email, fighting tears. “It’s an absolutely incredible place.”
The school had one name, but it was really separate campuses in three locations: Jamaica Plain, the South End, and Providence.
Families at all three campuses launched desperate quests to raise enough money to stay open through June. But saving The Croft School took each in a different direction. Providence’s campus followed its own course through Rhode Island’s court system before it closed earlier this year.
