3 Sylvan Learning Centers Close Without Warning

MassLive.com:

Cheryl C. Malandrinos of Wilbraham walked up to the Sylvan Learning Center on North Main Street Thursday and found the door locked and a note saying the location was “temporarily closed.”

“There was no warning,” Malandrinos said. “I even double checked my voice mails to make sure they hadn’t left a message, but there was nothing.”

Malandrinos is one of many parents surprised by the closing of the East Longmeadow center. Her daughter, Katherine Malandrinos, 7, is a student at Stony Hill School in Wilbraham. She has been attending the East Longmeadow Sylvan Learning Center since February.

“We have invested $9,000 with the center. We prepaid for classes through March of next year and now we don’t know what’s going to happen,” Malandrinos said.

Documents on file at Secretary of State William F. Galvin’s office list Mitchell J. Kupperman of Longmeadow as the owner. Kupperman could not be reached today.

Robert N. Fratar, a lawyer in Springfield who is listed as secretary of the franchises, said he had no comment regarding the closing.

Although the sign said the building is temporarily closed, Jennifer Gaegler, a media representative from the corporate office based in Baltimore, Md., confirmed that the East Longmeadow, Glastonbury, Conn., and Madison-Clinton, Conn., sites are permanently closed.

“The Sylvan business which was closed by franchisee Mitchell Kupperman not because of poor performance, but because Mr. Kupperman had over leveraged the business with debt and … he was unable to meet his debt service requirements,” a statement released by corporate headquarters said.

Parents were encouraged to transfer their children to another location in the area. The closest centers to East Longmeadow are in Hadley, Vernon, Conn., and West Hartford, Conn. Another option is to enroll children in Sylvan’s reading and math programs online.