Kindergarten's Montessori claim raises queries
Pok Fu Lam facility is falsely claiming to belong to the education movement, US society says
A kindergarten that closed last summer is still advertising its services and claiming membership of the American Montessori Society - a claim the society says is false.
Until recently, the Montessori School of Hong Kong also had a section on its website for admission applications and purported to be operating from a site on Caine Road, although in fact it was in Pok Fu Lam when it closed.
By May 1 the registration and enrolment information and address had been removed from the website and the school was saying it had "recently closed the premises at G/F, No 37 Pokfulam Road due to recurrent water leakage, which makes it unfit for school purpose".
Yesterday it was still claiming in its masthead to be "the Oldest American Montessori Society Corresponding School/International Member School in Hong Kong … established in the 1960s".
The society said the school was not currently a member and pledged to "aggressively correct" any misrepresentation.
A spokeswoman for the Education Bureau said its records showed the school closed in July last year.
The closure followed a written warning by the bureau in November 2009 for operating in unregistered premises at 37 Pokfulam Road, which was issued after parents complained about substandard facilities. The bureau also referred the school to the Social Welfare Department, which oversees childcare centres.
In response to inquiries, the American Montessori Society said: "The Montessori School of Hong Kong is not currently a member. The American Montessori Society actively seeks to protect its intellectual property.
"Any and all use of the American Montessori Society's name, logo, seal, or other distinguishing trademark or name for any and all purposes in any and all media … is unlawful and unauthorised.
"AMS is not aware that The Montessori School of Hong Kong is representing itself as a member school. If the claims of misrepresentation are substantiated, AMS will seek to aggressively correct the inaccuracies."
It said the term "corresponding school" had not existed as a membership category since the early 2000s and MSHK had never been a corresponding school member, but had been a member in the past.
The school did not reply to queries to its e-mail address.
