Famous SH Int'l School Closes Abrupt, Tuition Fees Paid

 Sudden closure 

Apple Montessori Nursery, located at 290 Jianguo West Road in Xuhui District, is an international preschool focused on early childhood education. It offers bilingual, small-class teaching with both local and foreign teachers, emphasizing high-quality education and management. The monthly tuition is 18,000 yuan. Currently, the nursery has three classes with children ranging from 18 months to 6 years old.

Teachers informed parents that the nursery had ceased operations, meaning children could no longer attend. Parents, however, were completely unaware of the impending closure, and some had just paid thousands of yuan in tuition fees last month.

According to Teacher Li from the nursery, when staff arrived at work on the morning of October 9, they found that all of the management had resigned, leaving only resignation letters on their desks without any explanation. The nursery's head could not be reached.Since its opening in 2018, most of the children from nearby neighborhoods had been enrolled in this nursery. 

Sign saying: "We didn't receive our salary" 

Reportedly, Apple Montessori Nursery has two campuses in Shanghai. The Pudong campus had already closed in February of this year. At that time, the nursery’s management assured parents that the two campuses were independently operated and that the Xuhui campus would not be affected. However, since May, the Xuhui campus has experienced issues such as salary delays and failure to pay social security contributions. Fortunately, these issues had not affected the children's schooling.

"We haven’t received our salaries for the past two months, and more than 20 staff members are still waiting for back pay," said one of the teachers. Additionally, in recent months, there has been a significant drop in student enrollment, and the number of classes has decreased from five to three.

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.

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.