A city councillor says he's asking about a dozen private schools in Ottawa if they'd be willing to honour the tuition that some parents prepaid at a closed Montessori academy in Nepean.

Coun. Rick Chiarelli said he's asking about a dozen local private schools if they'd be willing to honour the tuition some parents pre-paid at the now closed Canadian Montessori Academy. (CBC)

The Canadian Montessori Academy was forced into receivership last month. Some parents had paid thousands of dollars in advance for the 2012-2013 school year.

"We've been meeting with a number of the private schools in the area to see if any of them are willing to honour those tuitions or a portion of them so that these kids have a place to have their education this year," said Coun. Rick Chiarelli. "It's not done yet, but we're making some progress."

Most of the schools being approached are Montessori schools, and Chiarelli said the response so far has been "generally positive."

"It's very exciting news and I'm very pleased to know that we're not alone anymore," said Jackie Properzi, one of the first parents who had doubts about the now closed private school.

But she said parents excited by any potential offer to move their children to other Montessori schools should exercise caution.

"This is once burned, twice shy. And this is about doing your homework and understanding really what you are getting into," Properzi said. "If you are sending your child to a private Montessori school you need to understand what that means and who or what they are affiliated with."

Jackie Properzi was one of the first parents to be concerned by operations at Canadian Montessori Academy. (CBC)

Receiver trying to sell the property

Meanwhile, the closed school's court-appointed receiver is actively trying to sell the property. BDO Canada is soliciting offers and has placed an ad to appear in Friday's Ottawa Citizen newspaper.

A number of developers are known to be interested in the property. A spokesperson for BDO said the company anticipates offers of more than $3 million. That would be enough to pay off back taxes and debts, the mortgage, and possibly refund parents.

Sylvia Robbins pulled her son out of the academy before it was shut down due to concerns about how it was being run.

"I'm holding out hope they get a really juicy offer on this place from one of the developers and then everybody might get something back, which would be the best-case scenario," Robbins said.

If the school and property sell for a high price, it's possible that even the former owners — the de Mel family — would get money back.