Curtis Blake April 25, 2015 West Harford home.JPG

Friendly Ice Cream Corp. co-founder Curtis L. Blake, at his home in West Hartford, said Saturday he is disappointed in American International College's decision to close the day school for learning disabled children that bears his name, despite an offer by the Children's Study Home to bring the students and teachers to its Mill Pond campus in Sprignfield.

WEST HARTFORD — Friendly Ice Cream Corp. co-founder Curtis L. Blake, a major benefactor of American International College's learning disability services programs, said on Saturday he is "deeply disappointed" in AIC for its decision to close the Curtis Blake Day School, despite an offer from another operator to take over the school.

In seeking an answer to AIC's refusal to "even consider the proposal," Blake said he was told several times by a college official on Friday that "the business model of the day school is no longer viable."

"I didn't know that AIC was a business; I thought it was an educational institution," Blake said.

AIC's refusal to transfer its state certification license to the Children's Study Home, which is seeking to operate Curtis Blake Day School, is standing in the way of the plan to save the school.

AIC announced in March that it would close the school in June, citing declining enrollment and a desire to focus on other learning disability services offered through AIC.

Blake, who recently returned to his Connecticut home from Florida, said on Saturday he spent several hours over the past week talking with Curtis Blake Day School supporters and the executive director of the Children's Study Home, which proposes to move the students, teachers and curriculum to its Springfield campus in the fall.

Blake said he met with an AIC official to intercede in the dispute between college and the Children's Study Home in the hopes of keeping Curtis Blake going. But his efforts were unsuccessful.

Blake faulted the school's business-model reasoning, saying "why would AIC prefer to close the school instead of giving it a new life with a new organization that is 150 years old and eminently capable of operating the day school?"

Blake said he is impressed with the passion and commitment of Eliza Crecentini, the executive director of the Children's Study Home, and Curtis Blake parents for leaving no stone unturned in their efforts to save the school.

He said he will continue to lend his voice to the school's supporters as they investigate other routes to keep the school alive.

Meanwhile, Melissa Sulllivan of Somers, Conn., who has a son attending Curtis Blake and is a leader of the group hoping to save the school, said the parents group will pursue the possibility of obtaining a provisional certification from the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to keep the school going.

She said the parents' group is also considering retaining a lawyer to help them in their quest.

The Children's Study Home serves children, adolescents, and families with special needs throughout the Pioneer Valley and Cape Cod areas. The organization proposes to move students from Curtis Blake to its Mill Pond Road campus in Springfield.

The 37-student Curtis Blake Day School, which rents classroom space at Temple Beth El in Springfield, provides a variety of educational services for students with dyslexia and other learning disabilities.