What kinds of out of school events does your M school have?

[mightymoo]

What kinds of activities does your school have outside of school, but with the school community? I'm interested to hear about how different M schools work as far as community events and whatnot.

ETA - I'm really thinking of school community things, not community service, though that's always good to know too. Like picnics and potlucks, ways of better getting to know other parents and kids.

[GuildJenn]

My school goes up to age six. So far this year:

The students whose parents have given permission regularly visit the nursing home next door (they do various activities together with the seniors there).

They have a foster child and collect money for her once a week and also send pictures a few times a year.

This week they are collecting cans of food and going to make a chain of 100 cans and then donate them to a food bank. They also regularly have food, toy, and book drives.

In the spring I believe they are participating in some tree planting.

[mightymoo]

Originally Posted by GuildJenn

My school goes up to age six. So far this year:

The students whose parents have given permission regularly visit the nursing home next door (they do various activities together with the seniors there).

They have a foster child and collect money for her once a week and also send pictures a few times a year.

This week they are collecting cans of food and going to make a chain of 100 cans and then donate them to a food bank. They also regularly have food, toy, and book drives.

In the spring I believe they are participating in some tree planting.

I just wanted to clarify that I meant more like events to promote community within the school than community service / outside community stuff. I'm just looking for what other schools do to really bring the school community togehrer and get to know one another.

[schrocat]

Not sure if this is what you mean, but DS's school has a parent education night every year and a Thanksgiving dinner. It's not a potluck because they cook it at school and the kids help, but the parents sign up to provide the ingredients.

[Flor]

A few parent meetings. A "meet and greet" -- this is 7:30-8:30 AM during drop off, the parents hang out and have coffee outside and the older kids serve pastries while the parents chat. We have a Christmas program and end of year play. A beginning of the year potluck picnic. We have a fundraising garage sale where we all work shifts and get to know each other. We have a booth at a fair selling food, again, all packed together in a booth working and getting to know each other. We are all signed up on various committees with each other, too. One family has an all-school fall party.

[GuildJenn]

Originally Posted by mightymoo

I just wanted to clarify that I meant more like events to promote community within the school than community service / outside community stuff. I'm just looking for what other schools do to really bring the school community togehrer and get to know one another.

Oh sorry! I misread.

In that case we have parent education nights 6x a year, two concerts, and two events at the school - mother's day tea and father's day breakfast or something like that (we haven't had that yet).

[tinasquirrel]

Let's see, we have a beginning of the year potluck picnic at a playground, a winter concert with snacks afterward, a spring concert with picnic, Mother's Day tea, Father's Day breakfast, 3 parent workshops in the evening, a fall clean-up day where parents/kids come to clean up the grounds/garden/take down screens/etc, a spring clean-up day, and a silent auction fundraiser held at a country club type place on a Saturday night.

And the last day of school is a Teddy Bear picnic, but this is our first year, and I'm not sure exactly what that is.

Then, we also have frequent field trips, and if you volunteer to drive, that can be a nice way to meet the other parents who also volunteered.

[mightymoo]

I'm interested in what's involved in a concert? Do the children sing?

[GuildJenn]

Originally Posted by mightymoo

I'm interested in what's involved in a concert? Do the children sing?

At ours they did, in groups, and they recited some fun poetry together with actions, and then we all were invited to sing in a singer-response singing type song. It was short, but fun!

[Flor]

Our last winter program was a musical (not very elaborate-- the older children did the acting and the younger kids sang with them-- all in a church-- so no elaborate scenery or anything). At the end of the year we have a more elaborate musical with scenery, costumes, etc. It is a fundraiser as well.

[tinasquirrel]

Originally Posted by mightymoo

I'm interested in what's involved in a concert? Do the children sing?

This is our first year, so I don't know what the spring concert entails, but I can tell you what they did at the holiday concert.

The Primary children pretty much sit and sing songs. Some of the songs have bells accompaniment that the children ring. Just wrist jingle bell type things. Then they had an adult playing a guitar to accompany as well. In a few songs, the elementary children played the tin whistle. Then the elementary children did a tin whistle song (no singing) then a few regular songs.

It was in the high school auditorium and then we had food afterward. Nothing fancy. The songs were either winter-oriented or something like Jingle Bells.

[Lillianna]

Our school is a parent-owned co-op and has an active Parent Assoc. with many opportunities to get involved:
weekly material making sessions help the teachers
coffee social with principal
pumpkin party
ice skating party
valentine party
chili supper/contra dance
spring auction
garden and grounds work day
spring choral concert
spring art show
grandparents and special persons' day
each class has fall and spring family potlucks and play dates as well as adult only get togethers
you can volunteer to help with the faculty appreciation dinner
also parents are invited do committee work such as grounds, facility, diversity, green committee, etc.
Parent meetings/Montessori education evenings
volunteer for fieldtrips, help out at nursing home, food bank, open houses
we have several other fundraisers: gift wrap sale, rug sale, book fair and school logo/monogrammed sweats, etc.

[arwenevenstar]

We have loads of events too:

Cocktail party - intro to school year
Ice Skating event, Hockey events
Harvest festival
Mom and Dad's days
Parent evenings
School performance
Winterlight concert
End of year concert
HUGE summer auction
Winter ballroom dance lesson and party
Potlucks througout the year
Spring and fall Clean ups

Various bake sales, hand craft sales. The middle school do a science fair and a market place once a year. Volunteers for field trips and to help in classes and the auction brings around several community happenings throughout the summer and followin gschool year.

I am also the Community liason person and outside the community we collected for a local pregnant mother's shelter and are running an enviro-recycling amnesty on Earth Day.

[Mum2JocelynAngus]

Lots of stuff at ours which is "preschool" ages only (2.5-5)

We just had a Musical Potluck evening where the kids performed action songs as a group. We have student/parent "Sharing sessions" about every 2 months. There are parent education nights ~6x/year, discussing different aspects of the Montessori classroom. And then all the parents doing pick-up hang out together in the hallway every day waiting for the kids to come out!

[wrzos]

Let's see...
Fall picnic
Spring picnic and planting
Father's Night
Mother's Night
Holiday Open House
Opera - put on by the children - this year it was Pearl, and LOVELY!
Muffin & Pie Meetings every month or so for parents (AM/PM)
Various speakers, events for Parents to educate on M

I think that is it for Primary - I know Elementary does some extended field trips with parents, but I'm not there yet... Oh, and of course this didn't include normal parent-teacher conferences, and new parent orientations, etc.

HTH!

[Zadee]

Let's see:

Fall Harvest Fair
Opera (yes - they put on an opera every year rather than a play)
Open House where the kids teach their parents how to use the materials

I know there is more but that is what bubbles to the top of my brain right now.