{"monthlySchoolDonationEnabled":false,"callToActionDisplayName":"Castle Hills Elementary School","outOfStateSupporters":42.6,"allowSchoolLevelGiving":true,"hasFundedProjects":true,"projectGratitudeData":[{"teacherId":10329777,"projectId":9866860,"letterContent":"On behalf of our students and staff, thank you for your generous support and commitment to enhancing early learning experiences. Your donation has allowed us to purchase engaging gross motor materials such as rubber chickens and stepping stones, which have had a meaningful and lasting impact on student literacy development and foundational learning skills.\r\n These materials have transformed learning into an active, joyful experience. Through intentional, play-based instruction, our educators have been able to integrate movement with literacy concepts such as color recognition, counting, letter identification, vocabulary development, and listening skills. The stepping stones, for example, are used during guided activities where students hop from one stone to another while identifying colors, numbers, letters, or simple words. This multi-sensory approach strengthens comprehension and retention by connecting physical movement with language and cognitive processing. Similarly, the rubber chickens have become a favorite tool for interactive literacy games. Students take turns tossing or passing the chickens while practicing counting aloud, naming colors, identifying beginning sounds, or responding to simple prompts. These activities encourage verbal expression, turn-taking, and active participation, all of which are essential components of early literacy development. For students who learn best through movement, these materials have increased engagement, confidence, and willingness to communicate.\r\n Beyond literacy, these gross motor toys also support critical early learning skills such as coordination, balance, spatial awareness, and social interaction. These experiences build a strong foundation for classroom readiness and lifelong learning, reinforcing the connection between physical development and academic success.\r\n Your generosity has helped create an inclusive learning environment where my students can thrive. The materials are adaptable for a wide range of abilities and learning styles, allowing educators to meet students where they are and provide meaningful opportunities for success. \r\n Thank you for helping us nurture curious minds, strong bodies, and confident learners.","fullyFundedDate":1762907830616,"projectUrl":"project/strong-bodies-strong-learners/9866860/","projectTitle":"Strong Bodies, Strong Learners!","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Chris","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://cdn.donorschoose.net/images/placeholder-avatars/272/teacher-placeholder-9_272.png?auto=webp","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/10329777"},{"teacherId":6906927,"projectId":9835426,"letterContent":"Thank you so much for donating to our project.\r\nMy students have enjoyed the new materials and really are benefiting from them.\r\nThe white boards are being used daily for writing words, completing math problems and for small group. They were very excited to have brand new white boards with lines on them . \r\nThe sandpaper numbers and letters have really excited my special education students and my low students. They love to touch them and then say the name of the letter, the sound it makes and to tell me what number they just traced.\r\nAll the new books are also being used by all the students. They are always excited when we get new books. They are in our library and we have read them aloud and they also read them during free time.\r\nThank you again for helping out our classroom.\r\nWe really appreciate it.","fullyFundedDate":1760841758229,"projectUrl":"project/reading-time/9835426/","projectTitle":"Reading Time","teacherDisplayName":"Mrs. McLaughlin","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp6906927_orig.jpg?crop=799,799,x1142,y285&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1571789527062","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/6906927"},{"teacherId":7755593,"projectId":9822812,"letterContent":"I wish I had been able to snap pictures of the excitement on the faces of my kindergarten students as the boxes of materials from this amazing opportunity arrived at Castle Hills. I made sure to open the boxes in front of the kiddos and the shrieks of joy were heart warming. I described each item and modeled how we'd use the new materials. The students wanted to use each item right away and they all loved learning about the kindness of the donors who provided such amazing things for our classroom. \r\n\r\nThe white boards with handles have been a huge help during small group time and I'm adding another set to my wish list for the future. Game changer in the classroom for sure.\r\n\r\nI am so very thankful for the kindness that was bestowed upon my classroom this year. Seeing so many teachers get much needed and highly desired materials was amazing and not something we will soon forget. Thank you all for making a difference in so many lives.","fullyFundedDate":1760566008227,"projectUrl":"project/building-strong-literacy-foundation-in-k/9822812/","projectTitle":"Building Strong Literacy Foundation in Kindergarten","teacherDisplayName":"Mrs. Taylor","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://cdn.donorschoose.net/images/placeholder-avatars/272/teacher-placeholder-7_272.png?auto=webp","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/7755593"},{"teacherId":10310780,"projectId":9824450,"letterContent":"Thank you for your donations to our Building Literacy in 1st Grade. First grade is a year where students begin to learn how to read. Early literacy isn't just about learning to read, it's the process of acquiring skills needed to communicate, interpret, and engage with the world.\r\n\r\nThe students were so excited to dive into our new books and materials. Your donations such as books for our classroom library, headphones for students to use with our online & digital portions of our reading curriculum, & white boards to practice encoding and writing skills all provide authentic learning opportunities for students. We can't thank you enough for your generosity.","fullyFundedDate":1760416921518,"projectUrl":"project/building-literacy-in-1st-grade/9824450/","projectTitle":"Building Literacy in 1st Grade","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Gibbons","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp10310780_orig.jpg?crop=1976,1976,x293,y571&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1760381364001","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/10310780"},{"teacherId":9000767,"projectId":9820111,"letterContent":"I am writing to express my deepest thanks and sincere appreciation for the recent literacy supplies provided to my K/2 B classroom at Castle Hills. As a teacher supporting students with intensive special needs, the resources you allocated have already made a profound and immediate impact on my students' learning and engagement.\r\n\r\nMy students require specialized, multi-sensory tools to build fundamental literacy skills, and the new materials are perfectly suited to meet these unique needs. Specifically, the inclusion of items like mirrors for phonological awareness and the tactile boards and letters has been transformative.\r\n\r\nThe mirrors allow my students to visually observe how their mouths and lips form specific letter sounds (articulation), providing crucial immediate feedback that standard methods cannot replicate.\r\n\r\nThe tactile materials enable hands-on exploration of letter shapes and textures, which is vital for sensory learners to internalize the abstract concepts of letters and words.\r\n\r\nThe excitement in my classroom when we unpacked the new supplies was palpable. Seeing the students eagerly interact with these tools and observing the resulting growth in their confidence and skills has been incredibly rewarding.","fullyFundedDate":1760321056998,"projectUrl":"project/literacy-growth/9820111/","projectTitle":"Literacy Growth","teacherDisplayName":"Mrs. Saienni","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://cdn.donorschoose.net/images/placeholder-avatars/272/teacher-placeholder-4_272.png?auto=webp","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/9000767"},{"teacherId":6491997,"projectId":9818072,"letterContent":"One of the items I requested was magnetic wipe-off boards. We use these all the time for making words, and because so many were purchased, I'm now able to use them during whole-group lessons as well as in small groups. The students absolutely love using the letters and boards!\r\n\r\nI also requested playdough items, such as letter stamps and rollers. I had a few before, but the students were always fighting over them. Now I have enough for every student to make words with their playdough. It has become another fun and engaging activity that allows students to continue learning.\r\n\r\nThank you so much for your support!","fullyFundedDate":1760314459983,"projectUrl":"project/building-a-strong-literacy-foundation/9818072/","projectTitle":"Building a Strong Literacy Foundation","teacherDisplayName":"Mrs. Palsgrove","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp6491997_orig.jpg?crop=1512,1512,x0,y0&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1561583468741","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/6491997"},{"teacherId":4365334,"projectId":9833412,"letterContent":"I cataloged and processed the books as soon as I received them so the students would be able to start checking them out of the library. My younger students, kindergarteners and first graders, love the board books, especially the ones with things you can feel. Because many of our first grade students are just learning to read on their own, these books are great because they have only a sentence on each page. They are starting to recognize some of their sight words in the books.\r\n My autistic students love the books that.have textures, lights or sounds. The extra sensory input attracts them to the books. Since they are board books, they will last longer so many students will be able to enjoy them for the years to come. I even have some of my older students that want to check them out to read to and share with their younger siblings. We all appreciate your donation that focuses on literacy so we can get our younger students interested in reading books.","fullyFundedDate":1760761832145,"projectUrl":"project/kindergarteners-love-board-books/9833412/","projectTitle":"Kindergarteners Love Board Books!","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Morgan-Doughty","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://cdn.donorschoose.net/images/placeholder-avatars/272/teacher-placeholder-8_272.png?auto=webp","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/4365334"},{"teacherId":2302504,"projectId":8808285,"letterContent":"I want to sincerely thank you for your generous donations that have greatly enriched the learning experience of my EL students. Your support has made a great difference in their journey to learning English.\r\n\r\nThe Leap Pads were a huge hit—my students were excited to use them to listen to stories independently, which has boosted their confidence and listening skills. The talking flash cards have given them the independence to learn vocabulary on their own, while the vocabulary builder cards provided practice for speaking. Students have improved their writing skills by understanding story order with the sequencing cards, and the sentence-building chart helped them understand English sentence structure.\r\n\r\nAdditionally, the Teachers Pay Teachers gift cards enabled me to purchase engaging learning activities that further support their growth.\r\n\r\nThanks to your kindness, these students have more tools to become confident English speakers and learners. Your contribution has truly made a lasting impact.","fullyFundedDate":1739199047631,"projectUrl":"project/english-exploration-for-multilingual-min/8808285/","projectTitle":"English Exploration for Multilingual Minds","teacherDisplayName":"Mrs. Konkle","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/272x272/tp2302504_272x272.jpg?width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1451790982050","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/mrs-konkle"},{"teacherId":2302504,"projectId":8462120,"letterContent":"Thank you so much for your donation to my project. My students had a much easier time understanding complete/ incomplete metamorphosis by experiencing life cycle changes in real time for 4 different insects.They were also able to handle the insects to view their body parts, antenna, and legs. Additionally, they were able to watch the butterflies use their proboscis to get sugar water and see it unroll and roll up. My students were curious and fascinated. They gained a much better understanding for some of the insects in our world.","fullyFundedDate":1724077130437,"projectUrl":"project/investigating-interesting-insects/8462120/","projectTitle":"Investigating Interesting Insects","teacherDisplayName":"Mrs. Konkle","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/272x272/tp2302504_272x272.jpg?width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1451790982050","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/mrs-konkle"}],"pageName":"schoolpage_44536","usesDonorsChoose":true,"infoPageType":"school","demographicsInfo":{"numStudents":607,"numTeachers":41,"percentFrplEligible":66,"percentAsian":4,"percentBlack":42,"percentWhite":17,"percentIndigenous":0,"percentLatinx":27,"showFreeAndReducedPriceLunchInfo":true,"showDemographicsInfo":true,"sourceTooltipString":"the National Center for Education Statistics","gradesServed":"K - 5","studentTeacherRatio":"14.8:1","demographicsDataSource":"MDR School","equityFocus":true,"titleOne":true,"metroType":"SUBURBAN","ncesMetroType":"SUBURB_LARGE"},"inStateSupporters":57.4,"schoolId":44536,"financialInfo":null,"twitterShareText":"Learn more about Castle Hills Elementary School on @DonorsChoose:","schoolName":"Castle Hills Elementary School","canonicalPageUrl":"schools/delaware/colonial-school-district/castle-hills-elementary-school/44536"}