Adopt-a-School: Connecting Community to Classrooms
The Adopt-a-School program is a dynamic bridge between schools and the community. Partners are more than donors. They work closely with school leadership to identify strategic opportunities in support of the School Improvement Plan (SIP).
About Adopt-a-School
Partners build equity and create opportunity.
The Foundation works with Adopt-a-School partners to align their efforts and interests in support of School Improvement Plan goals in myriad ways – reading with students, volunteering in the classroom, donating school supplies/snacks/winter gear, providing field trip support, internship opportunities, and much more. We ask partners to commit to a minimum of a one-year engagement to help build mutually rewarding relationships among all involved.
What Schools Get
Mentors, materials and motivation for students.
When you adopt a school, you provide new experiences and opportunities for kids. You can serve as a tutor or lunch buddy, guest speak on a topic, provide job shadowing and so much more.
What Partners Get
Engage your employees. Build a better community.
As an Adopt-a-School partner, you will actively engage with and invest in the community where you live and work. You will share your time, attention, talents and experiences with students, staff and teachers, contributing to vibrant school communities.
“At UnityPoint Health–Meriter we are most proud that our support allows Vel Phillips staff to provide after-school meals for students. These meals create opportunities for connection and ensure students of all backgrounds can access food without stigma or shame.”
-Emily Borenitsch, Employee Wellness Manager
UnityPoint Health-Meriter – Partner to Vel Phillips Memorial High School Since 2017
Success Stories
Partnerships In Action
East High School
Tipping the Scales Program Gives Students Access to Legal Profession
In 2020, Adopt-a-School partner, Alliant Energy, launched Tipping the Scales, a program connecting attorneys, judges, and other local leaders in the legal field with East High students to share their stories and professional experiences. Now entering its fourth year, participating students enjoy a five-field trip experience that exposes them to various professional legal environments, and opportunities to hear from many legal professionals of color.
Memorial High School
Personalized Pathways: Giving students real-world experience.
Unity Point Health-Meriter makes it easy for students at Memorial High School to put what they learn in the classroom into action, giving them opportunities to job shadow and learn from healthcare professionals.
Lake View Elementary, Sherman Middle, and East High Schools
Mock interviews mean business.
American Family Insurance, one of the largest employers in Dane County, has been an Adopt-a-School partner since 2014. At Sherman, they continue to give students one-of-a-kind developmental experiences.
La Follette High School
Opportunities take center stage.
Forward Theater Company’s Adopt-a-School partnership with La Follette High School is focused on supporting performing arts students. Forward offers workshops for students on auditioning, provides professional mentors in stage management, lighting, and marketing, and has provided professional directors for several productions.
Adopt Us: Our Schools Currently Seeking Partners
Chávez Elementary
Crestwood Elementary
Elvehjem Elementary
Emerson Elementary
Gompers Elementary
Henderson Elementary
Huegel Elementary
La Follette High
Lapham Elementary
Lindberg Elementary
Lowell Elementary
Mendota Elementary
Nuestro Mundo Community School
O’Keeffe Middle
Olson Elementary
Orchard Ridge Elementary
Randall Elementary
Schenk Elementary
Shabazz City High
Shorewood Hills Elementary
Lori Mann Carey Elementary
Spring Harbor Middle
Stephens Elementary
Van Hise Elementary
Whitehorse Middle
Who’s Helping Who
Current Adopt-a-School Partnerships
Anana Elementary
Attic Angel Association, Blackhawk Church, Exact Sciences, Group Health Cooperative of South Central Wisconsin, TruStage
Badger Rock Middle
Doxa Church, Fields Auto, Group Health Cooperative of South Central Wisconsin, TruStage
Black Hawk Middle
Door Creek Church, McKinstry
Capital High
Blackhawk Church Downtown, VanChaMasShe Neighborhood Association, Wisconsin Evaluation Collaborative
Cherokee Heights Middle
Thermo Fisher Scientific, Westminster Presbyterian Church
Crestwood Elementary
Asbury United Methodist Church
East High
Alliant Energy, American Family Insurance, Summit Credit Union
Emerson Elementary
Bethel Lutheran Church
Franklin Elementary
M3 Insurance
Gillespie Middle
Madison West Middleton Rotary Club
Gompers Elementary
Children’s Theater of Madison
Hamilton Middle
TruStage
Hawthorne Elementary
DEMCO, First United Methodist Church
Henderson Elementary Rotary Club of Madison
Huegel Elementary
Madison Reading Project
Kennedy Elementary
Crosspoint Church, Door Creek Church, Messiah Lutheran Church
La Follette High
Forward Theater, Ingold Family Foundation, Summit Credit Union
Lake View Elementary
American Family Insurance
Leopold Elementary
Madison College, Blackhawk Church – Fitchburg, the Church at Christ Memorial, City on a Hill, Group Health Cooperative of South Central Wisconsin, State of Wisconsin Department of Revenue
Lincoln Elementary
Doxa Church, HOPE worldwide, St. Mary’s Hospital/SSM Health
Lori Mann Carey Elementary
Group Health Cooperative of South Central Wisconsin
Lowell Elementary
Trinity Lutheran Church
Marquette Elementary
State of Wisconsin Department of Administration Affirmative Action Advisory Committee
Memorial High
Capital City Theatre, Christ Church, Summit Credit Union, UnityPoint Health-Meriter, Yahara Software
Mendota Elementary
Christ Presbyterian Church, Door Creek Church, Seva Circle
Metro Schools
Madison Public Schools Foundation, Olbrich Botanical Gardens
Midvale Elementary
Kiwanis Club of West Madison, WIDA at UW Madison
MMSD Community Schools
Wisconsin Athletics
Muir Elementary
Dean Health Plan by Medica, TruStage
Orchard Ridge Elementary
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church
Sandburg Elementary
Association of Wisconsin School Administrators, Don Miller Subaru East, Door Creek Church, Group Health Cooperative of South Central Wisconsin, Hy-Vee East Washington Avenue
Schenk Elementary
Common Grace
Sennett Middle
International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (IFF), LocknCharge
Sherman Middle
American Family Insurance
Stephens Elementary
Covenant Presbyterian Church
Thoreau Elementary
American Printing Company, Group Health Cooperative of South Central Wisconsin, Matt Winzenried Real Estate Partners, Westminster Presbyterian Church
Toki Middle School
Huffman Keel Partners and Illumina
Transition Education Program
Alpha Delta Kappa/Delta Chapter, Alpha XI Delta Sorority
West High
BMO, Geneva Campus Church, Resurrection Presbyterian Church, St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, Summit Credit Union
Whitehorse Middle
Common Grace, Optimist Club of Downtown Madison, WEA Member Benefits
Wright Middle
Mt. Zion Baptist Church, Strand Associates, Inc.