GRAIN and Groton's Open Circle

During its fall meeting, Groton School’s Board of Trustees approved an initiative that begins to address issues of affordability and inclusion.

GRAIN—the GRoton Affordability and INclusion initiative—will allow the School to consider all qualified applicants regardless of their families’ ability to pay. In addition, GRAIN will freeze Groton’s tuition for three years.

“For some time, the Board of Trustees has been concerned about the increasing cost of private education, the rate at which it has outpaced income growth, and the fact that exceptional education has become increasingly unavailable to most families,” said Headmaster Temba Maqubela and board President Jonathan D. Klein P’08, ’11, ’18 in a letter to the Groton community.

The letter continued, “The Board of Trustees believes that now is the time to make sure the School is not only among the most selective, but also the most welcoming.”

Groton currently provides financial aid to 38 percent of its students; the GRAIN initiative means that applicants will not be turned away for financial reasons and focuses in particular on families who typically assume they will not qualify for aid.

The Board of Trustees has worked carefully on funding strategies, which will rely on generous gifts, some already in hand, as well as careful and targeted use of the School’s existing resources, including the Annual Fund and endowment.

The trustees indicated that they consider GRAIN the School’s number-one strategic priority.

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