Why I Serve: Cemone Moy and Four Corners Montessori Academy

By day, Cemone Moy works in HR for General Dynamics Land Systems and in her free time she serves as the Vice President of the Board of Directors at Four Corners Montessori Academy (FCMA) in Madison Heights. 

Cemone said after being an active parent at FCMA she was asked to join the board.

Through a chance conversation, I heard about FCMA at a networking event for work. I enrolled my son there the next year, and my daughter enrolled a few years later. I was an active parent volunteer and president of the Parent Guild (like a PTA) for a 2-year term. Afterwards, I was approached by a current board member to ask if I was interested in joining the board. It was an easy sale for me because I am very passionate about the success of the FCMA.”

Four Corners Montessori Academy is a public charter school serving pre-k through 8th grade, committed to the Montessori educational philosophy. Cemone said the closeness of the parents, students and educators makes FCMA a special place for her. 

It has a different vibe from most schools. Because it is smaller, you immediately get a sense of community and togetherness. From the very beginning of joining FCMA, I realized that the parents are really involved. And the staff really cares about the students and I wanted to be involved. I started attending board meetings and volunteered to be on the committee but when a seat on the board became available and I was approached, the timing was right and I jumped all over it.”

As with any positions that are public, sworn-in officials, sometimes there are disagreements. Cemone said the disagreements are actually helpful for the students and make serving on the board an enjoyable experience. 

This is my 2nd year on the board and I am planning to stay at least for another term. We have a good group on the board from various backgrounds and we work really well together. We don’t always agree on everything but that is a good thing. All of the members are passionate about the success of the school.”

As many know, there are misconceptions surrounding charter schools. For Cemone, the sense of community translates to the local community by giving parents another choice for their student’s education. Cemone said in many ways this actually makes charter schools as public, if not more than traditional public school districts.

Charter schools are very much public, in some cases they may be even more public than traditional schools. The target student is from that local community. We follow many of the same policies and governance but give the community an added choice that in most cases offer more than public schools.”

Transparency is often a topic brought up surrounding charter schools. For Cemone and the board at FCMA, it is a top priority. 

We really have a good partnership with our management company and authorizer. We work diligently to be as transparent as possible. We encouraged attendance and participation from our school community and the community at large. We post meeting minutes and share as much information as we can. I can honestly say that our board members candidly communicate with both the management company and authorizer to make sure we all have the same objective, and that is the success of the students and our school."