Franklin Montessori Darnestown Rd, MD closed for 3 months, no proactive tuition adjustments.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:maybe if the school would respond to emails that could happen. charging full price for distance learning and giving a 20% discount isn't going to cut it.

good for you if a 20% discount works but it doesn't work for many. it is within their control. they run a business and i am a customer. providing support or asking for support is one thing. doing so without an agreement is theft. and no those negotiation channels are not open. don't try to make people feel bad because they actually want something in return for the money franklin is taking.

I'm going to agree with this. How would Franklin respond if I said I'm going through financial difficulties, I've decided I can only pay you 20% of my tuition cost. I'm sorry, it's out of my control.

Um, I emailed them and asked for a specific discount (much more than 20%, including one month free), and they gave it to me no questions asked. I'm starting to think you're a troll.

um, i'm beginning to think you work for franklin. i know of 100 plus families in every room in franklin that have not gotten such treatment. boiler plate responses if they are lucky to even receive one. not a single instance of relief greater than 20% and a free month....never.

100% agree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We prepaid too and monthly people are just not paying. I will not make that mistake again. It’s beyond annoying.

Never prepay tuition. Hoping you save a few bucks now costs you over 5k

We pre-paid for the full year! Such a mistake.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Franklin is a for profit school. I’m sure the owner is just protecting her bottom line.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are also at Franklin...

We are at Franklin Montessori in Gaithersburg. Even though all families had paid tuition through May, our school decided to furlough teachers in late March (after the school rightly closed in mid-March). Franklin later, after significant pressure from parents who were upset that the school had decided to not pay teachers AND maintain its stance of providing no tuition breaks, offered only to families who asked for a refund a "credit" for two months tuition to be applied against future tuition. Franklin is still charging full tuition despite not being open: some monthly payers were able to use the credit to offset the last two tuition payments of this school year, while annual and semester payers must return to Franklin for the 2020-21 school year if they want to use the credit. The only families who will receive a refund in lieu of the credit are the families whose children will be in first grade for the 2020-21 school year and thus will be ineligible to attend Franklin.

After receiving PPP funding in early May, Franklin has returned to paying teachers. Franklin is offering distance learning in the form of 30-minute Zoom sessions on MWF; 15-minute Zoom sessions on TR; and one 15-minute, one-on-one session per child per week. As I mentioned above, Franklin is charging full!?! tuition for this distance learning program, regardless of whether a child participates.

Recently Franklin received permission from the State of Maryland to open for in-person care for children of families of essential workers. Families in the infant/toddler program can send their children from 8:30am-3:30pm. Families in the primary learning program have two options: Half Day (A): 8:30am - 11:30am or Half Day (B): 1:00pm - 4:00pm. Franklin is charging full tuition to families who are eligible for and decide for their children to attend this program. Franklin is continuing to charge full tuition to the families of workers who are not deemed essential whose children can only participate in the distance learning program mentioned above.

Numerous families have written to Franklin's leadership to request more information and many families, some of whom have written and called Franklin multiple times since March, have not received any communication. There has been at least two group communications to Franklin from a large number of parents that Franklin has answered only with form emails that have not addressed the parents' concerns.

Are your schools taking such a minimal approach to distance learning and/or a strong approach to tuition?

Any recommendations the parents can take for next steps? (media attention/legal action?)

I understand why all of this is incredibly frustrating...I just don't know that other private schools are doing any better/different. My understanding based on the enrollment agreement is that there's no real legal relief for this school year. Honestly, the best way to express your unhappiness is not re-enrolling. (I know how dissatisfying that is).

[Anonymous]

Franklin a rip-off

[Anonymous]

Franklin parent here, was on the Parent Franklin call with Josh Obler. 100% in support, and would pursue social media about this after hearing that nonsense call. "we can't pay you back because we have a lot of dept". So it's our responsibility ? We needed to get the driveway redone and I'm pretty sure he said they used PPP to pay for school maintenance not their fantastic teachers. If they had just been open and honest from day one (rather than ignore multiple emails and calls), maybe some parents would have offered support, but they gave us nothing. How about "we're in debt now, can't pay you, but agree to pay you back once we are finically stable again". Big fat zero. Welcome to Franklin, where parents pay for shady business practices!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are also at Franklin...

We are at Franklin Montessori in Gaithersburg. Even though all families had paid tuition through May, our school decided to furlough teachers in late March (after the school rightly closed in mid-March). Franklin later, after significant pressure from parents who were upset that the school had decided to not pay teachers AND maintain its stance of providing no tuition breaks, offered only to families who asked for a refund a "credit" for two months tuition to be applied against future tuition. Franklin is still charging full tuition despite not being open: some monthly payers were able to use the credit to offset the last two tuition payments of this school year, while annual and semester payers must return to Franklin for the 2020-21 school year if they want to use the credit. The only families who will receive a refund in lieu of the credit are the families whose children will be in first grade for the 2020-21 school year and thus will be ineligible to attend Franklin.

After receiving PPP funding in early May, Franklin has returned to paying teachers. Franklin is offering distance learning in the form of 30-minute Zoom sessions on MWF; 15-minute Zoom sessions on TR; and one 15-minute, one-on-one session per child per week. As I mentioned above, Franklin is charging full!?! tuition for this distance learning program, regardless of whether a child participates.

Recently Franklin received permission from the State of Maryland to open for in-person care for children of families of essential workers. Families in the infant/toddler program can send their children from 8:30am-3:30pm. Families in the primary learning program have two options: Half Day (A): 8:30am - 11:30am or Half Day (B): 1:00pm - 4:00pm. Franklin is charging full tuition to families who are eligible for and decide for their children to attend this program. Franklin is continuing to charge full tuition to the families of workers who are not deemed essential whose children can only participate in the distance learning program mentioned above.

Numerous families have written to Franklin's leadership to request more information and many families, some of whom have written and called Franklin multiple times since March, have not received any communication. There has been at least two group communications to Franklin from a large number of parents that Franklin has answered only with form emails that have not addressed the parents' concerns.

Are your schools taking such a minimal approach to distance learning and/or a strong approach to tuition?

Any recommendations the parents can take for next steps? (media attention/legal action?)

I understand why all of this is incredibly frustrating...I just don't know that other private schools are doing any better/different. My understanding based on the enrollment agreement is that there's no real legal relief for this school year. Honestly, the best way to express your unhappiness is not re-enrolling. (I know how dissatisfying that is).

We are at Georgetown Hill and have been very satisfied with their communication and how they are handling things.

[Anonymous]

Franklin is one big ponzu scheme guys

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Franklin parent here, was on the Parent Franklin call with Josh Obler. 100% in support, and would pursue social media about this after hearing that nonsense call. "we can't pay you back because we have a lot of dept". So it's our responsibility ? We needed to get the driveway redone and I'm pretty sure he said they used PPP to pay for school maintenance not their fantastic teachers. If they had just been open and honest from day one (rather than ignore multiple emails and calls), maybe some parents would have offered support, but they gave us nothing. How about "we're in debt now, can't pay you, but agree to pay you back once we are finically stable again". Big fat zero. Welcome to Franklin, where parents pay for shady business practices!

Obler is a joke and a snake oil salesman. Do NOT enroll your kids here! Even before this, management was a nightmare. COVID-19 was more of the Shady sneaky behavior.

[Anonymous]

You should definitely sue. This has not happened at other schools. Glad I passed on Franklin when I was touring preschools. What a disaster. Sorry you are going through this.

[Anonymous]

My son is at Franklin Montessori’s DC school. We have been utterly disappointed with the school’s communication, or lack there of. We have emailed the school every week or so to get information on tuition reimbursement or discount for the next year. We did not have distance learning until mid-April and it was only once a week, initially led by parents, and then after complaining to the school, by a teacher aide. We paid at the beginning of the year, and regret it. Families we know that paid monthly just stopped paying. It is absolutely wrong to treat families differently. I’m happy to support the school, but you can’t just offer a discount to the families who paid and not those that paid semi annually. We are now looking at alternative schools. We are just disheartened by the school administration.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son is at Franklin Montessori’s DC school. We have been utterly disappointed with the school’s communication, or lack there of. We have emailed the school every week or so to get information on tuition reimbursement or discount for the next year. We did not have distance learning until mid-April and it was only once a week, initially led by parents, and then after complaining to the school, by a teacher aide. We paid at the beginning of the year, and regret it. Families we know that paid monthly just stopped paying. It is absolutely wrong to treat families differently. I’m happy to support the school, but you can’t just offer a discount to the families who paid and not those that paid semi annually. We are now looking at alternative schools. We are just disheartened by the school administration.

Join the club. Franklin's administration is an abject failure and Obler is a liar and a cheat. And it is the most expensive preschool in the area. Lesson to all - NEVER pay Franklin in advance and don't sign the new contract for 2020-21. It's a rip off and gives you no rights in the event there is another closure or pandemic. Stand up for yourself - there is NO other preschool that is treating its parents like this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son is at Franklin Montessori’s DC school. We have been utterly disappointed with the school’s communication, or lack there of. We have emailed the school every week or so to get information on tuition reimbursement or discount for the next year. We did not have distance learning until mid-April and it was only once a week, initially led by parents, and then after complaining to the school, by a teacher aide. We paid at the beginning of the year, and regret it. Families we know that paid monthly just stopped paying. It is absolutely wrong to treat families differently. I’m happy to support the school, but you can’t just offer a discount to the families who paid and not those that paid semi annually. We are now looking at alternative schools. We are just disheartened by the school administration.

Join the club. Franklin's administration is an abject failure and Obler is a liar and a cheat. And it is the most expensive preschool in the area. Lesson to all - NEVER pay Franklin in advance and don't sign the new contract for 2020-21. It's a rip off and gives you no rights in the event there is another closure or pandemic. Stand up for yourself - there is NO other preschool that is treating its parents like this.

Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me. We learned our lesson to not pay semi-annually for any school. Is there a class action possibility here? This is going to rein their reputation.

[Anonymous]

Has anyone tried calling either the state or county consumer protection divisions?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son is at Franklin Montessori’s DC school. We have been utterly disappointed with the school’s communication, or lack there of. We have emailed the school every week or so to get information on tuition reimbursement or discount for the next year. We did not have distance learning until mid-April and it was only once a week, initially led by parents, and then after complaining to the school, by a teacher aide. We paid at the beginning of the year, and regret it. Families we know that paid monthly just stopped paying. It is absolutely wrong to treat families differently. I’m happy to support the school, but you can’t just offer a discount to the families who paid and not those that paid semi annually. We are now looking at alternative schools. We are just disheartened by the school administration.

Join the club. Franklin's administration is an abject failure and Obler is a liar and a cheat. And it is the most expensive preschool in the area. Lesson to all - NEVER pay Franklin in advance and don't sign the new contract for 2020-21. It's a rip off and gives you no rights in the event there is another closure or pandemic. Stand up for yourself - there is NO other preschool that is treating its parents like this.

Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me. We learned our lesson to not pay semi-annually for any school. Is there a class action possibility here? This is going to rein their reputation.

Class actions would take a long time. What about just taking them to small claims court?