A decade of
…
BY SEAN KERRIGAN
I
n a November 2014 letter to the Groton community, the GRoton Affordability and INclusion initiative—better known as GRAIN—was born. “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 then-board president Jonathan D. Klein P’08, ’11, ’18. “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.” By freezing tuition for three years—another freeze would come when inflation was high this past 2023–24 school year—and considering all qualified applicants regardless of their families’ ability to pay, Groton’s trustees made the school’s number one strategic priority a commitment to affordability and inclusion. Over the next decade, the GRAIN mindset would transform Groton.
As the GRAIN initiative evolved from a move ment to a mindset, the momentum it generated influenced all areas of life on the Circle and stimulated robust support for the people, programs, and spaces that define the Groton experience. The energy generated by the “GRAIN mindset” translated into historic fundraising success over the past ten years, and earlier this
THE ROAD TO $200 MILLION
GRAIN adopted by Board of Trustees
Vuyelwa and Temba Maqubela arrive at Groton
July 2013
First five Inclusion Scholars arrive at Groton
spring the total raised since 2014 crossed the $200 million mark. Just over $90 million of this total raised to date is direct support for the GRAIN initiative’s focus on tuition containment and affordability, and more than $50 million has been given in support of the Groton Fund, the school’s annual fund for current use. The remaining $60 million has been given in support of various projects that align with GRAIN,
First GRACE program
GRAIN receives first $5 million gift
Renovated Schoolhouse opens
$5 million challenge grant issued
Third $5 million gift pledged
The first GRAIN campaign closes at $53 million
Sunset Farm purchased by Groton
November 2014
September 2015
May 2017
July 2017
June 2018
April 2019
February 2014
June 2015
June 2016
June 2017
December 2017
September 2018
$1 million gift solidifies idea that would be GRAIN
Total raised for GRAIN reaches $14.6 million
Total raised for GRAIN reaches $21.4 million
Total raised for GRAIN reaches $32.4 million
$1.4 million gift brings GRAIN funds raised to $50 million goal
Number of Inclusion Scholars reaches 20
22
Groton School Quarterly • Spring 2024