{"monthlySchoolDonationEnabled":false,"callToActionDisplayName":"Desert Shadows Elementary School","outOfStateSupporters":36.4,"allowSchoolLevelGiving":true,"hasFundedProjects":true,"projectGratitudeData":[{"teacherId":537481,"projectId":9663229,"letterContent":"Your generosity helped me enhance our Kindness Shop and teach my first graders concepts of money. The items from this project have increased student motivation for positive choices and learning experiences. I am so grateful for your support. \r\n\r\nThe Wise Choice Whale and Nice Narwhal have been visiting students who are meeting or exceeding classroom expectations. They love it! \r\n\r\nThe books about money are helping teach my students about how to be \"money smart!\" I appreciate your support as I work to improve the future for us all!","fullyFundedDate":1757188025081,"projectUrl":"project/money-smarts-for-our-kindness-store/9663229/","projectTitle":"Money Smarts For Our Kindness Store","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Shellie","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp537481_orig.jpg?crop=272,272,x183,y0&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1755269973146","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/shellie-sallas"},{"teacherId":537481,"projectId":9556563,"letterContent":"Once again, I am pleased to express my gratitude for your support of my reading challenge in my classroom! We are 60 days into the challenge and 4 students have already completed the first half of the challenge and ten others have checked in at least 20 books read! \r\n\r\nTo see my first graders falling in love with reading through this challenge with the support of this project is such a thrill! \r\n\r\nI am so excited to see where my developing readers will grow to throughout the remainder of the year. I appreciate you for supporting this project and I appreciate you for helping me improve the future!!","fullyFundedDate":1755834398236,"projectUrl":"project/level-up-our-classroom/9556563/","projectTitle":"Level Up Our Classroom","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Shellie","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp537481_orig.jpg?crop=272,272,x183,y0&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1755269973146","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/shellie-sallas"},{"teacherId":537481,"projectId":9482277,"letterContent":"Thank you so much for supporting our classroom organization! With our learning space organized, we can find out learning materials when we need them. \r\nThe white folders hold all things \"writing\" for us! When we write, we know exactly what we need. \r\nThe blue folders keep our reading comprehension materials in a safe place throughout our months long learning sessions. The cube shelf holds all the folders and keeps everything safe. \r\nYour support has helped us create a space that supports our development of executive function skills. We appreciate you.","fullyFundedDate":1754103843139,"projectUrl":"project/organized-learning-environment-fosters-i/9482277/","projectTitle":"Organized Learning Environment Fosters Independence","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Shellie","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp537481_orig.jpg?crop=272,272,x183,y0&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1755269973146","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/shellie-sallas"},{"teacherId":537481,"projectId":9483341,"letterContent":"Thank you again for your generous support of this project! We were able to start our year off \"write\" with the materials in the project. Our writing folders get very students a place to organize their work, tools, and ideas all in one place! \r\n\r\nThe item with the biggest impact has been the BIC Tri-Write pencils!! The triangular shape encourages proper pencil grip and has transformed my students' handwriting! \r\n\r\nThe post-it easel pad has also given us a mobile place to create anchor charts for learning support. Thank you again for helping me support my writers as they jumped in to first grade. You are appreciated.","fullyFundedDate":1753759839796,"projectUrl":"project/start-the-school-year-write/9483341/","projectTitle":"Start the School Year \"Write\"","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Shellie","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp537481_orig.jpg?crop=272,272,x183,y0&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1755269973146","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/shellie-sallas"},{"teacherId":537481,"projectId":9390119,"letterContent":"Thank you again for supporting this important project. With the materials, we started our school year focusing on inclusion and kindness for all! We read the new collection of books and made sure everyone felt \"seen\" in our classroom. After that, we created a Kindness Bulletin board to remind other students at school that kindness should always come first. Last week, we created custom kindness stickers to share around our class. Soon, we will be sharing kindness stickers around our school! I can't wait to see the positive impact this will have on our school community. \r\n\r\nWe are getting ready to begin our custom wind up kindness mantras! This project keeps on giving us great learning experiences. I appreciate your support so much.","fullyFundedDate":1749347624288,"projectUrl":"project/promoting-inclusion-with-books-and-homem/9390119/","projectTitle":"Promoting Inclusion with Books and Homemade Stickers","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Shellie","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp537481_orig.jpg?crop=272,272,x183,y0&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1755269973146","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/shellie-sallas"},{"teacherId":537481,"projectId":9285028,"letterContent":"Thank you, once again, for supporting my students through this project. With your support, we wrote letters to ourselves to be opened on our first day of the new school year. Each student carefully crafted a letter on the animal stationery selected for this project. We sealed the letters with a seal, and the students felt a sense of importance when the letters sat neatly on their desks for the start of second grade. \r\n\r\nThe leftover items are now carefully stored for a future writing activity to be executed in my class this school year. Thanks so much for adding these special touches to our learning experiences. You have helped me in my work to improve the future - one thinker at a time.","fullyFundedDate":1746628397879,"projectUrl":"project/sealed-with-a-wax-stampletters-for-ne/9285028/","projectTitle":"Sealed with a Wax Stamp...Letters for Next Year!","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Shellie","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp537481_orig.jpg?crop=272,272,x183,y0&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1755269973146","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/shellie-sallas"},{"teacherId":8368467,"projectId":9245281,"letterContent":"Last summer I had a small dream of updating my art library and created this Donors Choose project. It was funded so quickly by amazing people in my community and matched by companies dollar for dollar- what an incredible outpouring of support. My students have been watching box after box, package after package come to the art room and each time they have been thrilled to see what new book is inside!\r\nTheir favorite books so far have been the art history books with the illustrations showing famous works of art with easy to understand explanations. Students have found works of art we have studied in class, like the Van Gogh 'Sunflowers' and are pumped to share with their partners. They have also loved the the small book called 'My Art Book of Happiness' which is a perfectly sized board book with famous pieces of art illustrating what joy can look and feel like. My students are so grateful for this opportunity to explore new books in the art room! Thank you for supporting our learning in this way!","fullyFundedDate":1746568963654,"projectUrl":"project/art-smart-new-art-books/9245281/","projectTitle":"Art Smart! New Art Books!","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Shiling","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp8368467_orig.jpg?crop=3024,3024,x0,y0&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1662481072093","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/8368467"},{"teacherId":537481,"projectId":9145917,"letterContent":"Thank you so much for supporting my classroom through this project! We have had so much fun reading all of the new books. My students absolutely LOVED the new Pigeon book on our last day of school! And now, I can't wait to share these book swith my new class as well!\r\n\r\nPart of this project requested materials for Custom Creations for Loved Ones! My students had a great time creating custom cutting boards and custom back scratchers for their loved ones. Each one was so unique and so perfect.\r\n\r\nThank you again for supporting our learning experiences and helping me make core memories in first grade. You are appreciated!","fullyFundedDate":1742942176926,"projectUrl":"project/custom-creations-for-loved-ones/9145917/","projectTitle":"Custom Creations for Loved Ones","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Shellie","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp537481_orig.jpg?crop=272,272,x183,y0&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1755269973146","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/shellie-sallas"},{"teacherId":537481,"projectId":9258361,"letterContent":"First, let me start by expressing my most sincere gratitude for your help in funding this project. Since we received our new bookshelf, I have been able to highlight special books to encourage students to read a broader variety of books. \r\n\r\nWe also use the shelf to highlight some of our reading buddies to connect to stories that teach great lessons for the start of the school year. And let's be honest, it makes our room looks so adorable just by being in it.\r\n\r\nI appreciate your support as I work to improve the future...one thinker at a time!","fullyFundedDate":1746540545815,"projectUrl":"project/a-magical-shelf-for-our-magical-books/9258361/","projectTitle":"A Magical Shelf for Our Magical Books","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Shellie","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp537481_orig.jpg?crop=272,272,x183,y0&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1755269973146","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/shellie-sallas"},{"teacherId":537481,"projectId":9049813,"letterContent":"Thank you so much for your donation to our Read Around the World to Write our Own Stories project! We loved reading books written by authors from around the world AND set around the world. We read each book, tracked the books' setting on individual maps, and we used these stories as inspiration to write our own stories. \r\n\r\nStudents learned about diverse cultures, diverse authors, and themselves. We tied this project into our Name Celebration...All students learned the story of how they got their names when they were born.\r\n\r\nWe absolutely loved every part of these learning experiences. I can't wait to do this again with my class this year and in the future. Thank you again for enhancing our classroom learning experiences with your support. I appreciate you.","fullyFundedDate":1740589166236,"projectUrl":"project/read-around-the-world-to-write-our-own-s/9049813/","projectTitle":"Read Around the World to Write Our Own Stories","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Shellie","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp537481_orig.jpg?crop=272,272,x183,y0&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1755269973146","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/shellie-sallas"},{"teacherId":537481,"projectId":9217683,"letterContent":"Thank you again, for supporting my classroom and students through this project! New books add magic to a child's educational journey. This project provided us with a collection of new, high-interest books to end our year! My students LOVED reading Author vs. Illustrator last spring! It inspired them as they wrote their own books. We are actually getting reading to read it again, next week with my new class of students. \r\n\r\nThese books engaged my students in amazing discussions last spring and will continue to do the same for years to come. \r\n\r\nThanks for having a positive impact on my first grader! I appreciate you so much.","fullyFundedDate":1744246683357,"projectUrl":"project/books-are-magical/9217683/","projectTitle":"Books Are Magical!","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Shellie","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp537481_orig.jpg?crop=272,272,x183,y0&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1755269973146","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/shellie-sallas"},{"teacherId":537481,"projectId":9016039,"letterContent":"Last month, we participated in a week-long Lunar New Year Learning adventure. We had a blast. Reading the books, eating fortune cookies, and completing the activities in the Panda Express Activity booklet created a well-rounded learning experience and many memorable activities.\r\n\r\nWe also benefit from our new OG+ literacy resources. We love the variety of skills covered and love the variety of activities.\r\n\r\nThe support from Panda Express allowed me to bring Lunar New Year lessons to my class and the other classes in my grade level. We appreciate you. You have improved the future forever.","fullyFundedDate":1737484304320,"projectUrl":"project/lunar-new-year-and-decoding-with-og/9016039/","projectTitle":"Lunar New Year and Decoding With Og","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Shellie","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp537481_orig.jpg?crop=272,272,x183,y0&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1755269973146","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/shellie-sallas"}],"pageName":"schoolpage_60090","usesDonorsChoose":true,"infoPageType":"school","demographicsInfo":{"numStudents":479,"numTeachers":29,"percentFrplEligible":14,"percentAsian":2,"percentBlack":1,"percentWhite":69,"percentIndigenous":1,"percentLatinx":17,"showFreeAndReducedPriceLunchInfo":true,"showDemographicsInfo":true,"sourceTooltipString":"the National Center for Education Statistics","gradesServed":"Pre-K - 6","studentTeacherRatio":"16.5:1","demographicsDataSource":"MDR School","equityFocus":false,"titleOne":false,"metroType":"URBAN","ncesMetroType":"CITY_LARGE"},"inStateSupporters":63.6,"schoolId":60090,"financialInfo":null,"twitterShareText":"Learn more about Desert Shadows Elementary School on @DonorsChoose:","schoolName":"Desert Shadows Elementary School","canonicalPageUrl":"schools/arizona/paradise-valley-unified-school-district/desert-shadows-elementary-school/60090"}
Join the 228 supporters who believe in this school.
About this school
Desert Shadows Elementary School is
an urban public school
in Scottsdale, Arizona that is part of Paradise Valley Unified School District.
It serves 479 students
in grades Pre-K - 6 with a student/teacher ratio of 16.5:1.
Its teachers have had 101 projects funded on DonorsChoose.
Public School
Grades Pre-K - 6
479 Students
29 Teachers
5902 E Sweetwater AveContact info is sourced from our partners at MDR Education, and DonorsChoose updates our site ahead of each school year.
Boost support for our school's classrooms. Share this page with friends and family who want to make a difference. If you're a teacher, sign up to get started!
DonorsChoose is the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.
As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. Each classroom request for funding was created by a classroom teacher and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
of students receive free or reduced price lunch
Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more
Source: the National Center for Education Statistics
21%
of students are Black, Latino, Native
American, or Asian
Data about school demographics comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. The numbers in this chart may not add up to 100% because of limitations in the available data.
Desert Shadows Elementary School Support on DonorsChoose
Last updated Dec 4, 2025
DonorsChoose makes it easy for anyone to help a teacher in need, moving us closer to a nation where students
in every community have the tools and experiences they need for a great education.
Desert Shadows Elementary School
$53,594
raised using DonorsChoose
101
projects
funded
24
teachers
funded
228
donors
18
projects
for
basic supplies
6
projects for
technology
34
projects for
books
6
projects
for
art supplies
Desert Shadows Elementary School has received support from
145 individuals from Arizona and
83 individuals out-of-state.