Parents angrily accuse the woman who founded the school! The contents of the big trouble in Nishi-Azabu “at the closure of the high-class international school

The staff in pure white dresses gathered at a venue with an excellent view overlooking the Ginza district, while a live harp music resounded in the background.

Last June, a graduation party was held at a restaurant on the top floor of the Chanel Ginza Building. The participation fee was 28,000 yen per person for parents and 14,000 yen per person for students. The school’s founder, Ms. Lina Rose, also attended the party wearing a pure white dress. It was a sparkling, happy time. Who could have imagined that in the year since then, this would happen? ……” (Parent, Ms. A)

X” is an international school located in the middle of Nishiazabu, one of the most exclusive residential areas in Tokyo, a 10-minute walk from Roppongi Hills (Minato-ku), in a building two stories above ground and one below.

Tuition for this pre-school, which has approximately 100 children from 3 months to 6 years old, is paid in advance and costs approximately 5 million yen!　The school’s pick-up and drop-off vehicles are Mercedes Benz wagons, and the school’s style, which incorporates the popular Montessori education and focuses on language learning from the pre-school stage, received a lot of media coverage when it opened in Nishiazabu in 2003.

The concept of the school, in which children are called “diplomats” and teachers are called “ambassadors,” and diplomats learn through international exchange with “ambassadors” from various countries, was also innovative. What was most appealing to me was the founder, Ms. Rose. Many parents decided to send their children to the school because they empathized with her career as a single mother who raised her children while working for luxury apparel brands such as Prada,” (parent B).

The most advanced education, a gorgeous environment, and a cosmopolitan outlook: celebrities who paid large sums of money to send their children to “X” as an investment in a hopeful future were suddenly awakened from their “dreams” on March 20 of this year.

The sparkling school that had looked so bright and shiny was now a shell of its former self. A piece of paper was posted near the entrance, stating that the school had been forced to vacate in accordance with the Civil Execution Law.

A guardian, Ms. C, was indignant.

There was no prior explanation or communication about the compulsory execution. Later, the school sent us an e-mail and told us that X would reopen in a temporary school building, but it was a three-story private house, about one-fifth the size of the previous building.
Eventually, the temporary school building was no longer available, and X has been on hiatus since May 24. We have only received emails informing us that ‘we are postponing the reopening of the school,’ and we have not been able to negotiate a return of the 5 million yen in tuition fees we paid in advance.”

Soon after, the parents learned a shocking truth.

“When we hired a lawyer to investigate, we learned that X had already been ordered to vacate the school building in ’17 for nonpayment of rent. The enforcement action came in March of this year because the landlord was waiting for us in good faith, saying, ‘We can’t bear to evict the students because of the COVID-19 crisis. Not only did the school conceal its plight from the parents, it did not stop recruiting students and continued to make them pay high tuition fees in advance.

Thus, a huge trouble broke out between the school and the parents.

When this magazine called Mr. Rina’s cell phone, which had not been seen since the enforcement action, there was no answer. When we e-mailed a letter of inquiry to the address left on the school’s website, we received the following response.

I have not seen (the questionnaire) and will not check it in the future. If any (articles) are published, I will certainly intend to file a claim for damages against (the reporters) individually.”

We called the lawyer representing Mr. Rina, but he had no nibbles, saying that he had already resigned his representation. ……

The students are still in limbo, and Ms. A and other parents are considering filing criminal charges for fraud, saying, “We don’t want someone with no integrity like Mr. Rina involved in our children’s education.

For the sake of the children, we hope that the matter will be resolved as soon as possible.

From the June 30, 2023 issue of FRIDAY