Monroe school may have ties to Jeffery Epstein

Documents recently released by the Justice Department may show a connection between a Detroit-area school and convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.  

The phone number of Meadow Montessori in Monroe appears multiple times in emails between Jeffery Epstein and one of his associates, Lesley Groff. The emails date from 2011 with one reminding Epstein to call ‘Catherine Calder’ at the same number publicly listed for the school. According to the school’s website, Catharine Calder is the head of Meadow Montessori, which she founded in 1984. 

WDET called the number listed and asked to speak with Calder about any connection she or the school had to Epstein, who died in 2019. The person who answered declined to comment. 

WDET has confirmed that Calder attended the Interlochen Center for the Arts in 1967, the same year Epstein went to camp there.

Another document shows an email from earlier in 2011 between a redacted name and Epstein where Calder is described as a “very old friend” of the late convicted sex-trafficker. 

Update 2/19/2026

Calder confirms that her name appears in an email between Jeffery Epstein and one of his assistants.  In a letter to parents, Calder says she met him while they were students at Interlochen’s national music camp in 1967 and she called him in 2011 after reading a magazine article about him. Calder says that’s the extent of their contact. 

She did not say whether she knew about his 2008 conviction for sex crimes in Florida. 

Calder says that Meadow Montessori and its students are safe, but she has asked the Monroe County Sheriff for extra patrols around the school. 

The Board of Trustees sent a separate letter to parents, saying they met with Calder, believe her explanation and continue to support her. 

Additional reporting by WDET’s Sam Stroud.