Parents & Policies

Welcome Parents!  The Friends of Madison Youth/Arts Barn would not be able to operate without the great assistance of parents.  From our volunteer Board of Directors, to our wonderful parent chaperones, through to your cooperation with helping your children follow our policies and procedures, we owe a great deal to our parents.  We encourage you to stop in, take a look around, give us your feedback and (hopefully) get involved.

 We have been working to keep our kids safe, and supervised and off the streets for 14 years.  Here are some of the rules we use to help keep your kids safe: 

1.  Virtually all activities are separated by age groups, High School events are NOT intended for middle school students.  Middle School activities tend to be segregated by grade (i.e. 8^th grade only).  Please check our listings to make sure your child is planning to attend an appropriate event.

2.  Proper Supervision.

• 6^th, 7^th and 8^th grade events must have a ratio of 1 adult chaperon to every 15 children.
• 7^th and 8^th grade activities must have a security guard or police officer in addition to the required chaperones.
• All High School events must have at least 1 police officer in addition to event staff/chaperones.

3.  Substance Free Environment

• Alcohol, Tobacco, and other drugs are not tolerated at the Arts Barn.

4. No Reentry

To help maintain the safety of other young people, they are not allowed to leave and reenter the facility.

5.  No wandering

Middle school students are not allowed to leave without a parent/guardian picking them up.

6.  PDA’s

We work hard to limit personal displays of affection, especially at the middle school level.  While we cannot universally enforce every questionable action, we strive to create a wholesome atmosphere.

7.  Open Communication

We want to hear from you.  Should you have concerns post-event, maybe you heard that some unknown high school students were at your 7^th grader’s dance, or possibly you may learn that Madison’s Police Explorers were helping chaperone, or perhaps you would like clarification regarding a “rumor” being passed around.  (It could be the “big fight” you heard about may have been one punch and that the situation was quickly addressed and the offending youth was sent home or to the police department.) 

Unfortunately, youth events lend themselves to rumor and exaggeration.  We need your help on this – please call (203) 245-2689) or email:  madisonartsbarn@gmail.com.