ATLANTA — Parents are angry after a private school their children attend announced it would be shutting down for good at the end of the week.

The parents say the school is closing weeks before the end of the semester.

“I am still in shock. My child is still in shock. We were unprepared for this,” parent Tamieka Atkins told Channel 2’s Tom Jones on Channel 2 Action News at 5:00 p.m.

Other parents of students who attend Midtown International School on Sheridan road in DeKalb County say they were floored when they learned the school is closing forever Friday. Ankita Patel says this is breaking her fourth grader’s heart.

“I thought when I put her in the school this will be her home until she graduated from high school,” she said.

Parents say it was Monday when they opened an email from the school’s board of directors.

“That’s when they dropped the bomb,” parent H.D. Shah said.

The board said the small private school would close because of declining enrollment and more students needing scholarships and financial assistance. It said that put a strain on its finances.

Not every parent buys that.

“Ending seven weeks early is more than just declining enrollment,” Atkins said.

What really upsets the parents is they paid for tuition for all of this semester. And began paying for next year’s tuition. Patel says her family paid $8500 towards next semester’s tuition. And say they paid $2,000 for a field trip to Washington D.C. in May. They want those thousands of dollars returned. “They should not be keeping our money if they’re not gonna teach our kids,” Shah said.

Parents are also bothered that no one will speak face to face with them about the decision to shut down.

“They should have guts to come in front of the parents and face it off,” Shah said.

Parents say this is causing stress and strain on them, and their children.

“No child should have their stability shaken so abruptly,” Atkins explained.

Jones reached out to the board of directors for a comment but did not receive a response.

The dean of the school of Capstone Academy says she is in contact with the school to help assist with the placement of the students from MIS.

Capstone is holding an open house Saturday for families affected by the closure.

The school will close its doors Friday.

TRENDING STORIES:

[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]

©2026 Cox Media Group