Kinderstube German Immersion Preschool c/o Mayflower Church

I really wanted to like the Kinderstube. I have a background in Germanistik and was hoping to share this love with my son. Unfortunately, our experience there was nothing short of a disaster. I post this review, in a hope that others will be warned.

I am sure that most people have great experiences there. I can honestly say that many of the teachers in the Minneapolis campus are caring, kind, hardworking and exactly what you would hope your preschool teacher to be. Michelle in particularly is the shining star of the Minneapolis program.

However, if you have a boy, or a highly active child, or a child that may have any kind of disability, I cannot recommend it. My son attended school there for 7 months and most of his time there was uneventful. A few months in he started talking about fears about the head teacher Vincent and how Vincent was mean to him. I still do not know what happened to make my child so afraid of Vincent, since my son shuts down anytime I try to broach the subject (although since he left the school his stomachaches magically disappeared). Although I think (I hope) there was not any abuse, I really am just stumped and will have to be satisfied with never knowing.

Furthermore, after we let the Kinderstube know about my son’s developmental disability, they essentially showed him the door. There was no communication, no understanding, no empathy, which was shocking. The head teacher Vincent and the director Babett told us our son “had to go” and that they “didn’t want to manage him.” There was never any discussion of any plans or strategies. Until the last meeting, there was zero communication from Vincent and Babett. What could have turned out to be a good learning opportunity for all, just ended up with a traumatized four-year-old, who now misses his buddies and wonders what he did wrong. Clearly, the school was a bad fit; but not for the reasons that one would normally expect.

Although every child is different and I have known children who had a great time with the Kinderstube and even with Vincent, I personally cannot recommend the school. Until they deal with their internal issues about discrimination and address their relationship to preschool expulsion, it is not a safe place for children.

Kinderstube has been a wonderful fit for our family. We moved to Minneapolis from Europe and were so thankful to find a school that promotes play and social awareness. This school is blessed to have the best teachers who not only excel at German language instruction, but more importantly, want to teach children to be inquisitive about their environment and the world around them. This school is a real gem.