Rainbow Montessori School Provides Comfort with Project Night Night.

Rainbow Montessori School Provides Comfort for Homeless Children

Madison, NJ - Pre-school and Kindergarten students at the Rainbow Montessori School (RMS) in Madison are getting into the spirit of holiday giving by launching their community service initiatives with a focus on providing comfort to homeless children. “Rainbow Montessori School participates in a few Community Service projects each year to help others less fortunate and to teach the children at our school about caring for those who are in need in our community,” said Director, Pam Petrillo. “Community service and giving back have always been integral parts of our curriculum.”

The families, teachers and staff at Rainbow Montessori School (RMS) are currently participating in Project Night Night by collecting new or handmade blankets, books and stuffed animals that will each be packaged into a canvas tote bag and donated to a child from a family that is homeless.

“Project Night Night is simple yet has a tremendous impact,” said Jeanine Yacenda- Steenberg, the Friends of Rainbow, Community Service Chairperson and current RMS parent. “Project Night Night strives to give homeless children an anchor and the comfort and confidence to face whatever challenges lie ahead as they move from street to shelter.”

According to the official Project Night Night website, about 25,000 Night Night canvas tote bags are donated each year to homeless children across the country with the help of 10,000 volunteers. This means that 25,000 children’s books reach children in need and 25,000 blankets and stuffed animals provide relief and security.

RMS families, as well as the teachers and staff are participating in Project Night Night and together have assembled 50 bags thus far for donation to a homeless shelter in our area. “We’ve also had beautiful child sized quilts donated by the Garden State Quilters and lovely hand crocheted blankets donated by one of our grandparents.” Petrillo said. Kindergarten students made posters that have been placed around the school hallways to advertise this event. “I love that at RMS the children have a chance to get involved and learn how to contribute,” said Mrs. Slattery, a Kindergarten parent.

“Project Night Night is just one of the many community service projects RMS has scheduled for the year, but for the students this particular effort really seems to hit home,” said Hannah Schoenfeld, Kindergarten Teacher. “My students can understand how scary and lonely it must be not to have a “blankie” or “lovie” and therefore are very excited to participate.”

Rainbow Montessori School has been providing quality education for Nursery, Pre-K, Young 5 and full day Kindergarten students in Madison and the surrounding communities since 1981. The school is currently open for registration for the 2016-2017 school year. To learn more about the school and its curriculum please visit www.rainbowmontessorinj.com or call (973) 377-0135 for more information and/or to schedule a tour.

Photo 

left to right: Kindergarten Students at RMS Adriana Antoniades, Noah Hsu, Declan Duignan, and Caroline Slattery.