MONTESSORI SCHOOL OF LA JOLLA TO CLOSE DOORS TODAY AS LEASE ENDS
Nearby school that controls property looks to expand
In a development that its leadership describes as “devastating,” Montessori School of La Jolla will close today, following the expiration of its lease at 6540 Soledad Mountain Road, ending decades of education.
The adjacent San Diego French American School, at 6550 Soledad Mountain Road, manages the property and did not offer Montessori a new lease. SDFAS wants to expand into the space.
San Diego French American entered a 60-year master lease with the San Diego Unified School District in 2018, meaning SDFAS can operate and modify the property as it wishes. At the time of the signing, Montessori School of La Jolla was permitted to remain on the property for three more years until its existing lease expired in 2021, according to SDFAS Head of School Mark Rosenblum. The lease was extended for an additional year, ending with the current 2021-22 school year.
“We want to thank the Montessori community for so many years as good neighbors on the Mount Soledad site and we wish them well,” Rosenblum said.
Though discussions had been under way in anticipation of the lease ending, it still came as a jolt to Montessori School management.
Owner and Executive Director Shannon Bingham said she found out about SDFAS’ plans from community
parents.
“There had been talks about the French American School’s strategic plan over the last few years, but I had found out (that a decision had been made) from a French American School parent that had heard we
were closing,” Bingham said. “We didn’t know what they were talking about. Then a few parents said something, so ... we set up a meeting with the school. We explained we wanted to set up a sublease. They said, matter of fact, they were not going to sublease to us.”
Though she is “very sad” about the closure, the Casa Montessori program in Carlsbad that Bingham runs will still operate.
“We have had generations of families who came here as children and then sent their children,” she said. “They know the impact that we have made in the community and the education we could provide. We still have students that come back. There is a tight connection with a lot of our families.”
One of them is the Quick family, who sent three children to Montessori School of La Jolla.
“It’s sad,” Alex Quick said. “The teachers were amazing with the kids. The school has been extremely well-run. My kids were reading at an early age and were ready for kindergarten. It’s a real loss.”
Montessori School of La
Jolla was established in 1975 on the campus of Decatur Elementary School (which closed in 1989) as an offshoot to the Montessori School in The Village.
“My mom started the school,” Bingham said. “Her first school was the La Jolla Village Montessori on Fay Avenue and then started where we are as an extension of that one. She started by leasing classrooms, but then she leased the property and built the school up from there.”
San Diego French American School is expanding onto the Montessori property to meet initiatives in the school’s strategic plan, Rosenblum said.
To learn more about San Diego French American School, visit sdfrenchschool.org.