Family Connections

Family Connections, the parent organization of Madison Community Montessori School, was formally organized in 2008.  Family Connections (FC) serves to support both the MCMS community and the school by hosting events designed to foster relationships among families, students and the school.

Family Connections is headed by a steering committee of volunteer parents/guardians, which reports directly to the Head of School. There is a standing meeting at the school on the second Tuesday of every month, typically at 8:15 AM; all parents/guardians are welcome and encouraged to attend.  All families of currently enrolled students at MCMS are automatically members of Family Connections.

Montessori Colors Variety Show

Many FC social events are organized each year in order to foster relationships within our school community.  Events are also organized to help raise funds for projects that benefit our entire school community.  In addition, FC facilitates passive fundraising opportunities, such as the MCMS Rewards program, where businesses return a portion of a customer's purchase back to the school, with no additional cost to the customer.

All of these amazing activities take place due to the considerable amount of help from many hands within the MCMS community.  To that end, MCMS has established an expectation that each family will volunteer a minimum of seven service hours to Family Connections over the course of each school year.  There are many opportunities to contribute that time, matching the varying talents, interests, and availability of our parents/guardians.  Here are some guidelines related to volunteering:

  • Leadership roles (such as Steering Committee members and Chairs of each organized event) automatically fulfill the seven FC service hours.

  • There are many opportunities to get involved and help shape our community and we request each family to give generously of your time and talents.  There are seven events over the school year and if each family were to give on average 1-2 hours per event, the tasks would be manageable for everyone.

  • We recognize and appreciate the immense value of the time spent by families supporting their child(ren)'s classroom(s) directly; however this time does not fulfill the FC service hours.

  • The fulfillment of the FC service hours relies upon the honor system; there is no longer an online system used for tracking.

The 2012-13 Steering Committee

Chair: Viji Kandhadai
Co-Chair: Jen Baldock
Volunteer Coordinator: Anna Ramachandran 
Communications Coordinator: Elizabeth Macasaet
Passive Fundraising: Valerie Paulin

Please contact us at family.connections@madisoncommunitymontessori.org with any questions or comments.

Family Connections Events for 2012-2013

Fall All-School Potluck (September 20th, 2012): A great way to start the school year, reconnect after the break or connect for the first time - MCMS families come together to share food and fun. 

Volunteer Opportunities: Sign up to bring a dish, help set up before, or clean up after:  http://www.volunteerspot.com/login/entry/1132857876090

Location: School; Time: 6 -8 pm

Barnes & Noble Bookfair and Sing Along (November 17th, 2012): Sing along with children, family and friends and browse through specially requested books/materials for each class room - A great opportunity for community building and an occasion to build resources for your child’s class room as you kick-start your holiday shopping.

Volunteer Opportunities: Work with class teachers to obtain book lists, coordinate with store to arrange space and order books, create flyers & write TB announcement promoting event, set up tables and organize books by classroom and help clean up.

Location: Barnes & Noble West; Time: 9:30 am

Craft and Bake Sale (December 19th, 2012): A long tradition in MCMS with both families & classrooms contributing crafts & baked goods to this sale – nature and scope of the event for this year to be determined

Volunteer Opportunities: create flyers & write TB announcement promoting event, setting up, staffing or cleaning up after the sale.

Location: School

MCMS Annual Auction (February 8th, 2013): The start of a new tradition in MCMS – Family Connection’s biggest fundraiser will be an evening, adult-only event this year.

Volunteer Opportunities: Solicitation of sponsors, creating flyers & writing TB announcements promoting event, setting up, staffing and cleaning up after the auction.

Location: School

Montessori Colors Variety Show (March 10th, 2013): MCMS students & families share their talents & skills during this afternoon variety show held at a nearby location off campus.

Volunteer Opportunities: create flyers & write TB announcement promoting event, solicit information about acts from school community, organize/maintain flow of the show.

Location: Middleton Performing Arts Center; Time: 2 pm

Follow the Child Family Fun Run (May 25, 2013): A 5K and 1 mile timed run open to the general public.

Volunteer Opportunities: Map route and set up race course, design and order T-shirts, obtain corporate sponsors, create flyers & write TB announcement promoting the event, set up and maintain race website and active.com site for registration, serve as announcer prior to and during the run.

Location: TBD

MCMS 40th Anniversary Gala (May 24th, 2013): MCMS celebrates its 40th anniversary this year and this gala will bring together families, friends and alumni.

Volunteer Opportunities: Setting up. Staffing, coordinating crafts and games.