Newton Montessori school closes in the wake of blackface activity with toddlers

A Newton Montessori school has closed its doors indefinitely after news spread that a teacher had toddlers make and wear blackface masks as part of a Black History Month activity.

IC Kids Newton addressed the incident on Facebook Sunday, saying that the activity occurred on Feb. 8.

The school said a teacher in a classroom with toddlers planned and carried out an activity where the children made black masks to look like Black people and wore them.

“We apologize to every and anyone this might have offended,” the school wrote on Facebook.

The school said a parent addressed the issue with the teacher and the teacher apologized.

At the time of the incident, the school’s director was away because of personal issues, the school said, but after the incident was brought to her attention, the director removed the activity from the classroom and reprimanded the teacher.

The school said that “management” was not made aware of the incident until Feb. 11 when a parent alerted them that other parents were discussing the incident on social media.

The teacher responsible for the incident was then fired.

The Facebook post indicated that there may have been protests at the school as a result of the incident. Because of this, the school has closed indefinitely citing the “risk” to children. The school is directing families of enrolled children to other child care centers nearby.

The school said that were it to reopen, staff will receive diversity training and the school will seek out more minority staff.

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