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On the morning of October 9, multiple parents reached out to the medias for help after discovering that the Apple Montessori Nursery had unexpectedly shut down.
- Sudden Halt in Operations
Located at 290 Jianguo West Road in Xuhui District, Shanghai, the Apple Montessori Nursery is an international school focused on preschool education, with tuition fees of 18,000 yuan per month. The nursery had three classes, serving children aged 18 months to 6 years.Parents now face the dual crisis of their children’s unexpected loss of schooling and difficulties in recovering the high tuition fees already paid. Foreign parent Sam shared his experience: "When I dropped off my 5-year-old son and 3-year-old daughter yesterday morning, the teacher advised me to take them home. The teacher said the nursery could not continue operating, and the children could not stay."Parents were shocked by this news, as they had no prior indication that the nursery would close, with some having renewed tuition payments just last month. "We were all blindsided!" said teacher Li, who explained that on the morning of the 10th, everyone found out that the management had left without notice, leaving only resignation letters on their desks. Attempts to reach the responsible parties have been unsuccessful, and Li also mentioned that she had not received her salary for the past two months.- Signs of Trouble Before Closure
The nursery opened in 2018 and had two campuses; the Pudong campus was closed in February this year, with management assuring that the Xuhui campus would remain unaffected. However, this has not been the case. Since May, parents have gradually learned that situations such as unpaid wages and social security contributions occur from time to time. Additionally, there has been a significant loss of students, reducing the number of classes from five to three.![]()
Ms. Zhu, whose 2-year-old son attended the nursery, noted that the school had a high proportion of foreign students, offering a more international and diverse learning environment, which had earned the trust of both local and foreign parents. “I just paid over 50,000 yuan in tuition a few months ago, and now it seems like it’s going down the drain,” she lamented. The nursery offered various payment plans with discounts for larger prepayments. Nearby, a heavily pregnant mother chimed in, stating that her eldest child had been enrolled for less than a month, having paid a one-time fee of 100,000 yuan.![]()
Investigations reveal that the legal entity behind Apple Montessori Nursery, Shanghai Xuhui Mengyuan Nursery Co., Ltd., is represented by Wang Yingying, with a registered capital of 500,000 yuan and a focus on “nursery services” (full-time). Information from Tianyancha shows that the company has been listed by the court as a restricted high-consumption enterprise and has historical high-risk execution information.Relevant authorities have responded, stating that according to the “Regulations on the Management of Nursery Institutions in Shanghai,” nurseries must collect fees monthly and are only permitted to enroll children under three years old, prohibiting the enrollment of older children. The nursery’s enrollment and fee structure appears to have violated these regulations.In light of the sudden closure, authorities are currently not only compiling information on the remaining tuition for each student but are also actively coordinating transfer options to other facilities.![]()
