Courtesy photo
TMC Honors Pre-School Directors and Staff
Submitted by Karen Jeisi, TMC Communications Chair
2024 is a landmark year for the Thursday Morning Club’s Madison Community House – it celebrates 100 years of serving the Madison community.
Among the many Thursday Morning Club (TMC) service projects, one of the most enduring was the Madison Community House (MCH) Nursery/Pre School, which began in 1960 providing classes for 2, 3 and 4 year olds to prepare them for school. The learning was experiential with day trips to visit various Madison locations, including the library, the firehouse, Dodge Field, the police station, and a dentist’s office.
One of the hallmarks of the MCH Nursery School was caring personal attention to each child, encouraging creativity. In the 21st century, the learning expanded to include STEM topics to prepare them even better for kindergarten, and the Nursery School became the MCH Pre School. Sadly, the Pre School had to close in 2023 because of declining enrollment as a result of parents working from home during and post Covid; this tough decision took a few years to make because of the attachment the TMC members had to the school and to the number of families who had sent their children to the MCH School. There was unfortunately no choice because the TMC could not afford to support the Pre-school and the Madison Community House, which provides a home for EPOCH (Educational Programs for Handicapped Children), the Support Network, and Spotlight Kids and is used by as many as 50,000 people each year for civic meetings, a variety of classes, boy and girl scout troop meetings, recreation events, etc.
Over the 63 years of the TMC MCH Nursery/Pre School, there were many devoted directors and long-time staff, and, on September 21, 2023 a special program to honor them was held at the MCH. 110 members and guests attended, cheering for all the cumulative years of service of these special women who dedicated themselves to early education of hundreds of Madison area children.
Organized in 1896, the Thursday Morning Club (TMC) is a member of both the New Jersey State and General Federation of Women’s Clubs. The Club offers programs and services to support the community including BASCC (Before and After School Childcare) at the elementary schools, and its Madison Community House provides a home for a number of clubs, sports, recreation, and civic groups. If you would like to serve the community, make new friends, enjoy programs and activities, consider joining the Thursday Morning Club. For information, call the Community House at (973) 377-0244 or visit TMCMCH.org.
