"If education is protection to life, you will realize that it is necessary that education accompany life during its whole course."

- Maria Montessori

"If education is protection to life, you will realize that it is necessary that education accompany life during its whole course."

- Maria Montessori

Annual Fund

Show Your Support for MSC

The Annual Fund is our year-round fundraising effort and what enables us to provide essential resources for the Montessori learning experience and the community behind it. The contributions are distributed throughout all of MSC’s learning programs, ensuring that students of all ages as well as faculty and staff will benefit from the incoming capital.

This gift beyond tuition helps to bridge the cost of a Montessori education not covered by tuition, prevents us from cutting programs, helps us to accommodate a more diverse scope of students, and presents opportunities to improve the facilities of our campus as well as create new ones. Every contribution is welcome, and every contribution matters. Click here to learn more about our Annual Fund.

If this type of contribution to our community gets you excited and feeling generous to donate any amount, please contact our Director of Development, Michael Drennan, at (803) 888-1755 or development@montessoricolumbia.com.

FAQs About MSC's Annual Fund

The Annual Fund is an essential component of the school’s operating budget and supports important areas including faculty salaries, professional development, tuition assistance, and our enrichment programs. Annual Fund gifts help us to close the gap between tuition income and budgeted operating expenses, keeping tuition rates lower and allowing MSC to be accessible to a diverse pool of applicants.

That would only be possible if we raised our tuition significantly. Montessori School of Columbia’s families fall within a wide socio-economic range, and it is important to keep tuition at a reasonable level.

It is a conscious decision by the Board to trust that our various constituencies will bridge this gap with their Annual Fund contributions. Tax-wise, funding educational expenses partially through charitable donations is more advantageous to our families than simply paying higher tuition.

At MSC, Annual Fund gifts range from $10 to over $5,000. No gift is too small – all gifts are welcome, tax-deductible, and make a difference.

Each year, all members of the Board of Directors, faculty and staff, current parents and grandparents, past families and alumni, and friends of the school are encouraged to make a contribution to MSC’s Annual Fund.

We welcome contributions to the Annual Fund at any point during the year. Our Annual Fund runs along with our fiscal year, July 1 through June 30. Many donors choose to make their Annual Fund donation in December – before the end of the calendar year.

Unless they choose to remain anonymous, all donors are recognized in MSC’s Annual Report.