How You Can Help
Why does Friends of Montessori need my help?
FOM is a 100% volunteer organization dedicated to making its schools the best educational alternatives in HISD. Your help is needed and greatly appreciated in fundraising, materials making, communications (our newsletters and web site), planning and executing educational events, and raising district awareness of parental support.
Consider serving as a Board member or on a committee such as:
Grant Writing - This committee develops requests to various funding organizations for large and small grants that support the Montessori program.
Communications - This committee is responsible for a quarterly newsletter, our FOM Big Tent site, this web site, media announcements, flyers, letters, and publicity for the program.
Big Tent is an online social network dedicated to communications about our Montessori programs and all FOM partnering schools. Once in the program and on the list, you’ll receive electronic messages about upcoming events, classroom news from teachers, ways you can support the program and info about Montessori resources. Once your child is enrolled, you can go to www.bigtent.com. Search for Friends of Montessori, click on the link and submit your request to join.
Classroom setup – Two HISD public Montessori schools received the generous award for the Federal Magnet Grant, over 15 classrooms are being prepared for the 2011 school year. Contact Laura Aslatten at Garden Oaks Elementary at 713-696-2930 or Erin Smith at Dodson Elementary at 713-226-2685 to see how you can help.
Donations
Friends of Montessori gratefully accepts donations from the community. You can support Friends of Montessori by making cash donations, and also by making in-kind donations of materials.
You can now donate cash in any amount to Friends of Montessori via PayPal. It's fast, easy, and tax-deductible. Friends of Montessori is a registered 510 (c) 3 not-for-profit charitable organization. We can acknowledge your donations with a donor acknowledgment letter. Click on the link listed in the menu to the left to make your donation. Please make a notation to earmark which affiliated school you would like to receive your donation.
Donations of classroom materials, furniture, lab equipment, books, etc. are also welcome. If you or someone you know is involved with a foundation, corporation, or other granting organization that might be interested in this project, please contact Shana Tatum at friendsofmontessori@yahoo.com.
In 2010/2011 Friends of Montessori accomplished many great things:
Purchased and prepared materials for one lower elementary class room and one upper elementary classroom at Garden Oaks $35,000
Purchased materials for Wilson Montessori's middle school classroom $6,700
Purchased Holiday Wish List items for 10 Garden Oaks Elementary classrooms $2,100
Purchased classroom update materials for 10 Gareden Oaks Elementary classrooms $13,000
Hosted Celebration Picnic for all Montessori families to announce Garden Oaks Elementary and Dodson Elementary's being granted the Federal Magnet Grant
Facilitated in-kind professional services, valued at $25,000 and materials for Los Niños move to Denver Harbor Multi Service Center
Provided child care for parent education meetings at Garden Oaks Elementary $250
Sent Wilson Montessori middle school students to the Alley Theater to see A Christmas Carol $780
Supported Wilson Montessori middle school students at Blackwood Nature camp $900
Funded Urban Harvest program and instructor at Wilson Montessori, serving 450 students $15,900
Hosted 17TH annual Pancake Breakfast and Silent Auction at Garden Oaks Elementary, raising $15,600
Hosted 6TH annual Wilson Montessori Gala, raising $30,300
Created grant proposals for new Wilson Montessori Wonderground – reSPARK project, donated $20,000 toward project
Supported teacher professional development at two AMS and NAMTA conferences $8,300
Supported Dodson Montessori school Principal search
Organization restructure