Xuhui district police took three foreign teachers away from the unregistered kindergarten where they worked Wednesday.

"Officers have taken away three foreign teachers in regard to an investigation," said a press officer surnamed Tao with the Xuhui District Public Security Bureau.

Police went to the school, Happy Reggio Emilia School, around 3:30 pm as many parents were picking up their children, according to a source close to the school. The officers asked for the teachers' passports, but the three foreign teachers said they did not have their passports with them.

"So the officers told the teachers to stand in line and be photographed before taking them away," the source told the Global Times.

Police did not take the school's principal or owner into custody, the source said.

Happy Reggio Emilia has enrolled about 70 children, most of whom are French, the source said.

 In the past, it has charged students 8,900 yuan ($1,436) a month to attend, the Xinmin Evening News reported. Each class has a foreign and a Chinese teacher.

Last month, district education officials ordered the kindergarten to close down because it wasn't registered.

However, on March 24, the school shifted its classes to a temporary location on Dongan Road. On Tuesday, classes resumed at the school's original location on Jianguo Road West.

The education bureau was aware that the kindergarten had reopened, said an official surnamed Yu from the general office of the Xuhui District Education Bureau. "Since the closure, we have been sending staff to the school's original location every day to see whether any children are there," Yu told the Global Times.

Yu said the bureau wasn't aware that police visited the school Wednesday.

"The kindergarten's owner is from Taiwan. We told the owner that the school could apply for an education license and start classes after registering with the education authorities," Yu said. "They're not supposed to start running the school without approval."

The bureau has notified parents that the school was operating illegally, but they continued to send their children there.

Most of the parents know that the kindergarten is unregistered, the source said. But the school has agreed to admit the children for free until it gets its license. Without this school, the parents might have to wait a whole year to get their children enrolled at a registered kindergarten geared toward foreigners.