Preschool company abruptly closes three of its central Ohio locations ...Middle East

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- With just weeks' notice, multiple central Ohio preschools under the same company are closing by the end of the month, leaving employees and families with little time to adjust.

Guidepost Montessori is closing three of its four central Ohio locations by March 31. Nationwide, the company has closed almost 50 of its more than 150 schools with minimal notice. An administrator said the situation has been "miserable."

"We have parents begging us to do something," she said.

The administrator -- who asked to be anonymous as she is staying with the school until its closure -- said staff learned the schools would close on Feb. 25. Guidepost locations at Dublin, Muirfield Village and Powell will close, with the Worthington location remaining open.

Although Guidepost and its parent company, Higher Ground Education, had significant financial backing from groups like LearnCapital and the Walton Foundation, its rapid expansion appeared to overtake the costs needed to maintain its schools. Higher Ground's CEO and founder also resigned in the last two weeks, adding to the confusion.

Interim co-CEO Maris Mendes said via internal newsletter that the company’s overextension has led them to close nearly a third of the company's schools. 

All closing Columbus locations provided care for kids between 12 weeks and 6 years old. Guidepost Montessori's website does not indicate these locations are closing and still invites families to reach out. The Muirfield Village webpage says the school is accepting applications for infant through kindergarten programs.

Guidepost schools across the country are affected. News outlets have reported closures in at least 10 states this year.

In October, Guidepost's missed rent payments at a facility in Virginia led to the building's landlord locking the doors without warning. Dozens of workers and families were left without access, and news outlets reported children's and teacher's belongings were locked inside.

In a letter to Denver television station KMGH, Guidepost Montessori said the specialized education, training and educational materials are expensive.

The representative said many schools were running losses of $50,000 per month and that the company’s creditors were no longer willing to bend. 

Financial reports for the company are difficult to track down, as they only have four SEC filings and are not a nonprofit, so their tax documents are not readily available. The most recent public data comes from lease agreements, where Guidepost was reported to be nearly doubling its revenue each year through 2022.

The administrator said she wished the company had given them at least a few months’ notice. She said Montessori schooling, which emphasizes independence in learning, is a niche educational experience, which makes it harder to bounce back from the closures.

“Now there’s faculty scrambling to find employment, because Montessori is so specific,” she said.

She said families are also struggling to find new childcare options, as the Worthington location had minimal openings. Among the three locations, there are 91 students left without childcare, according to the schools' most recent state inspections. Using that same data, even if the Worthington location enrolled kids to its maximum legal capacity, at least 16 would still need a new school.

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