Anana Elementary School Opportunities

Supporting our neighborhood elementary!

Greentree’s neighborhood school is Anana Elementary, renamed in 2021 after Milele Chikasa Anana, a Madison community leader and publisher (learn more about her here and here!). It is also the voting poll location for most Greentree residents.

As a community partner, GTNA has helped spread the word on different past school initiatives, including: gift cards for holiday meals, winter clothing drives, emergency housing and utility assistance, and an annual drive for the school’s food pantry. Many of these programs shifted during the pandemic, but there are still many ways you can be involved with the school.

“How can I help?”

It’s a question that often gets asked at the annual GTNA neighborhood meeting— people want to know how they can best support their local elementary school!

There are some immediate upcoming volunteer opportunities

Sign up for a specific event or put your name on the roster for ad hoc needs. Someone from the school will be in contact with you.

>>Fill out the volunteer form<<

1. GROUNDS CLEANUP AT ANANA SCHOOL

Monday, August 31st • 5-7pm 

Sign up to help clean up any trash and debris around the playground and outside of the school building before the start to the school year! Trash bags and gloves will be provided. All you need to bring is yourself. 
For more information please contact James McKay (ejmckay81@yahoo.com) or fill out the form.

2. READING TUTORS
Anana Elementary is looking for volunteers to tutor students in reading this year. The tutoring program will be overseen by the Literacy Justice Coalition. They seek adults who can commit to a weekly time block during school hours. The focus will be on students in grades 1-3 who are struggling with reading. 

You will be required to attend a training on the reading intervention system they use. This training is not yet scheduled, but will likely happen in late Summer or early Fall. 

Fill out the form if you are interested.

3. FUNDRAISING VOLUNTEERS
As you may know, Anana Elementary runs their largest PTO fundraiser of the year just a month or so after school starts. This is the Anana Fun Run, an upbeat, fun-filled event where students and staff run laps around the field to great music and get a commemorative t-shirt showing their total number of laps. 

The PTO budget is used primarily to support teacher classroom needs, run a few family-focused events, and provide dinner during school-hosted evening events.To get their campaign off to a great start, they are looking for volunteers to call or email potential sponsors asking for donations. They have a list of past donors and a tracking spreadsheet to record donations collected. 

If you are interested in this opportunity, please email ananapto@gmail.com or fill out the form.

4. OTHER ANANA VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES
Sometimes volunteer opportunities at the school come up with short notice, and we can't always get the word out via mass email or facebook post in time for those opportunities to be filled. Fill out the form if you'd like to stay informed about upcoming volunteering available at the school. Include your name, number, and email address and the school will send out information periodically as opportunities arise.

What else?
Donate to the Anana Rent and Utility Fund

Many students are experiencing housing insecurity. If this is something you'd like to help with, you can donate to the school's >>Rent and Utility Fund,<< which can help keep kids in their homes and focused on their education!

• Visit https://goodshep.breezechms.com/give/online
  
• Select 10A - Anana fund
  
• Note there is an option to give a recurring gift 
  

Contact MMSD School Board and thank them for approving bus access for school students who live north of Schroeder Rd. 

Anana students who live north of Schroeder Road face safety and attendance issues due to, due in part to the fact that they live just within 1.5 miles of the school and previously didn't qualify for District busing or transportation. 1.2 miles is a long way for a young child to walk on their own without supervision, especially across a busy road and in inclement weather. As of October, the School Board approved a 2025-26 bus pick up for Anana students living in this area—a great success story and longtime in the making. The school has been advocating for over a year to find a solution supporting these students, having even attempted to create a Walking Bus system last fall. As a community partner, GTNA sent a letter early on to the school board urging them to support the proposed bus route solution.

It is still undecided as to whether this solution will be available for students this 2026-27 school year, but having the bus this past year proved a very positive impact on attendance! 

Consider emailing the School Board (board@madison.k12.wi.us) to thank them for their efforts and to encourage them to support a permanent solution for our neighborhood students!

Feel free to copy Alder Harrington-McKinney on your email at: district20@cityofmadison.com. She is impressed with the spirit and participation of the neighborhood residents.

Support the PTO

As the needs of the school and its students evolve, one of the most direct and effective ways Greentree neighbors can do that is by donating to the Anana Elementary Parent-Teacher Organization (PTO), which works to meet the varied needs of students and teachers in real time. Donating to the PTO provides flexible and immediate support to the school!

You can donate by visiting them online(via PayPal) or by writing a check made out to "Anana PTO" and delivering/mailing to the school at 6323 Woodington Way, Madison, WI 53711 (note that checks sent during summer months may not be processed until school resumes in the fall).

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Businesses

Businesses can also support the elementary through Madison Public Schools Foundation’sAdopt-a-School Program at Anana.