{"monthlySchoolDonationEnabled":true,"callToActionDisplayName":"PS 81 Robert J Christen","outOfStateSupporters":29.1,"allowSchoolLevelGiving":true,"hasFundedProjects":true,"projectGratitudeData":[{"teacherId":3591500,"projectId":10154547,"letterContent":"Our kindergarten students have worked incredibly hard this year, growing academically, socially, and emotionally. These specialty papers will allow us to create beautiful graduation crafts, certificates, keepsakes, and classroom projects that celebrate each child's achievements and mark this important milestone.\r\n\r\nFor many of our students, graduation is their very first academic celebration. Having the materials needed to make this day special will help them feel proud of all they have accomplished and create lasting memories for both students and their families. These projects also provide opportunities for students to practice fine motor skills, creativity, and self-expression as they prepare for their big day. \r\n\r\nThank you SO much!!","fullyFundedDate":1773594684872,"projectUrl":"project/paper-please/10154547/","projectTitle":"Paper Please!","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Vero","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp3591500_orig.png?crop=958,958,x0,y0&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1745584308784","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/gvero"},{"teacherId":7687947,"projectId":9289135,"letterContent":"Thank you so much for your thoughtful donation! Throughout last school year, my students went through so many water bottles. They would either get lost, break, or constantly leak water everywhere. I was beyond excited when this project got funded because this project gave me the opportunity to give my students each a customized water bottle that had great reviews of being leakproof. I gave them the bottles at the end of the school year for them to stay hydrated in the summer and use in third grade. The students loved them and came back to show me that they still have them. Some students decided to make the bottles their own this summer and put stickers on all the places they visited. Thank you again for bringing such an important project to life!","fullyFundedDate":1746785934684,"projectUrl":"project/keep-calm-and-stay-hydrated/9289135/","projectTitle":"Keep Calm and Stay Hydrated","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Murphy","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp7687947_orig.jpg?crop=1:1,smart&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1627531859289","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/nmurphy6"},{"teacherId":7687947,"projectId":10258379,"letterContent":"Thank you so much for your generous donation of books for 3-212. Your kindness is helping us provide meaningful reading experiences for our students during such an important stage in their development as readers.\r\n\r\nAs we come to the end of the school year, our class is excited to begin a novel study of The Wild Robot. This story blends fantasy and sci-fi in a way that keeps young readers engaged and wanting to read more. \r\n\r\nBecause of your generosity, I will be able to use these books with years to come!","fullyFundedDate":1778223727653,"projectUrl":"project/wild-for-the-wild-robot-escapes/10258379/","projectTitle":"Wild For The Wild Robot Escapes","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Murphy","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp7687947_orig.jpg?crop=1:1,smart&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1627531859289","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/nmurphy6"},{"teacherId":6859438,"projectId":10258425,"letterContent":"Thank you so much for supporting our project! Because of your generosity, our classroom received butterfly kits, books, and coloring materials that have already made a meaningful impact on our students' learning.\r\n\r\nThe butterfly kits have brought science to life in a way that textbooks alone never could. Students are excitedly observing the butterfly life cycle firsthand, making predictions, recording observations, and asking thoughtful questions about nature and growth. Watching caterpillars transform into butterflies has sparked curiosity and wonder throughout our classroom.\r\n\r\nThe books you provided have expanded our learning and inspired a love of reading. Students are eagerly exploring new topics and strengthening their literacy skills through engaging and meaningful texts.\r\n\r\nThe colored pencils and markers have given students the tools to express their learning creatively. They have been using them to illustrate butterfly life cycles, create detailed observation journals, and complete colorful projects that showcase their understanding and imagination.\r\n\r\nYour kindness has provided our students with hands-on experiences, quality learning materials, and opportunities to engage deeply with science, reading, and art. Most importantly, you have shown them that there are people who care about their education and want them to succeed.\r\n\r\nThank you for investing in our classroom and helping create memorable learning experiences for our students. We are incredibly grateful for your support.","fullyFundedDate":1777994797431,"projectUrl":"project/a-little-of-this-a-little-of-that/10258425/","projectTitle":"A Little of This, a Little of That!","teacherDisplayName":"Mrs. Raffel","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp6859438_orig.jpg?crop=1104,1104,x262,y730&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1569967216297","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/6859438"},{"teacherId":8059651,"projectId":10161714,"letterContent":"We have been using new resources during our STEM Science Center time. This is a dedicated period where students are able to explore and develop their engineering skills using a variety of materials while collaborating in different student groupings.\r\n\r\nThe students' eyes lit up when they saw the new center titled \"Brilliant Engineers.\" They were able to build houses, landscapes, cities, and inventive environments around their structures. Some students created neighborhoods with roads and bridges. The first graders showed great respect for the materials by carefully organizing the LEGO bricks into different bins by color. It was wonderful to watch them work together so responsibly and cooperatively. They consistently supported one another by sharing ideas, solving problems, and offering a helping hand. It was also so refreshing to see them accept each challenge with a smile while building their houses. The students were very focused, engaged, and fully immersed in their learning. This collaboration was an important goal of the experience, allowing students to learn from each other in a positive and peaceful environment. Our next steps for the project will focus on extending their learning in several meaningful ways. Students will use their structures to create detailed blueprints of the interiors of their houses, thinking like real architects and designers. Another option will be to design creative LEGO car structures and consider their possible functions, speed, or special abilities. Students may also construct imaginative community spaces such as schools, zoos, amusement parks, or sports complexes, thinking carefully about layout, purpose, and design. A third idea is to build marble runs using LEGO pieces, which will connect directly to our upcoming unit on friction, gravity, and force. Additional extensions could include designing bridges that must support weight, creating rescue vehicles for engineering challenges, or building towers that can withstand wind and stability tests. We are incredibly excited to continue expanding these experiences as students begin to test, redesign, and improve their creations like true engineers.\r\n\r\nWe are truly grateful that our school is able to provide a dedicated LEGO center that encourages creativity, collaboration, and hands-on learning. It is because of your kindness and generosity that our students are able to experience these meaningful opportunities, explore their ideas freely, and grow as young engineers. Your support helps foster creativity, confidence, and a strong sense of community within our school.","fullyFundedDate":1773885763626,"projectUrl":"project/from-brain-power-to-engineering-brillian/10161714/","projectTitle":"From Brain Power to Engineering Brilliance","teacherDisplayName":"Mrs. Aslanian","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp8059651_orig.jpg?crop=2731,2732,x0,y91&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1758855106332","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/8059651"},{"teacherId":132502,"projectId":10125732,"letterContent":"Thank you so much for your generous support of our classroom. Our students enjoy reading chapter books such as \"Little Bear\" and \"Mouse Soup\". The series \"A Pig and a Fox\" is just right for emergent readers. \r\nThe read alouds are class favorites. Stories such as \"When Sophie Gets Angry\" help students to lean how to cope with difficult feelings. \"The Recess Queen\" helps them understand the importance of including others.\r\nBecause of your generosity, our classroom library has selections to meet the many needs of our ICT class.","fullyFundedDate":1779371079586,"projectUrl":"project/little-readers-big-adventure/10125732/","projectTitle":"Little Readers, Big Adventure","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Sullivan","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp132502_orig.jpg?crop=1080,1080,x0,y125&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1604006168885","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/132502"},{"teacherId":132502,"projectId":9880755,"letterContent":"Thank you for your generous support! Because of your generosity, my first grade class was able to watch the metamorphosis of caterpillars to butterflies! They were absolutely fascinated by the changes that they observed every day. It brought it to life, much more so than from just reading a book.\r\nThe caterpillars grew very large. Then the children waited patiently while the chrysalis were very still. Finally, the butterflies emerged and the children were very excited! They were able to write and draw their own life cycle of the butterfly. This is an experience that will remain with them for years to come.\r\nThe tabletop white board is so helpful for small group work at the teacher table.\r\nThe chart paper has been used for anchor charts to support learning as well as for the children to create animal \"expert\" posters. These materials would not be available without your support.\r\nThank you again!","fullyFundedDate":1764695862027,"projectUrl":"project/tiny-caterpillars-big-lessons/9880755/","projectTitle":"Tiny Caterpillars, Big Lessons","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Sullivan","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp132502_orig.jpg?crop=1080,1080,x0,y125&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1604006168885","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/132502"},{"teacherId":132502,"projectId":9974768,"letterContent":"My students absolutely love the non fiction books! We learned about nonfiction text features such as Table of Contents, Glossary, and Headings. The children selected books on their favorite topics such as coral reefs, bees, weather and dinosaurs. They keep some books in their book baggies.\r\nWe used other books to work in groups to create \"expert\" posters on different topics. Children used the books to research their topic. Then they were able to choose how to create their posters. Some wrote facts and drew a labeled diagram. Each group made an \"expert\" presentation and taught the rest of the class.\r\nThese amazing books would not be available without your support. \r\nThank you so much for your generosity.","fullyFundedDate":1768227523728,"projectUrl":"project/from-caterpillar-to-bookworm-nonfiction/9974768/","projectTitle":"From Caterpillar to Bookworm: Nonfiction for First Graders","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Sullivan","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp132502_orig.jpg?crop=1080,1080,x0,y125&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1604006168885","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/132502"},{"teacherId":3138413,"projectId":10245053,"letterContent":"(And Teresa!), Thank you so much for once again supporting my classroom and helping fund our colored pencils project. Your generosity and continued kindness truly mean so much to me and my students. Colored pencils are one of those supplies we use every single day for so many different activities and projects. My students use them during writing assignments, math activities, crafts, reading responses, and creative projects that help bring their learning to life.\r\n\r\nHaving quality materials available helps students feel excited, confident, and proud of their work. Something as simple as colored pencils gives them the opportunity to express themselves creatively while staying engaged in learning. Because of your support, my students are able to create colorful, meaningful work that brightens our classroom every day.\r\n\r\nI am incredibly grateful for your constant support of my classroom. Your generosity never goes unnoticed, and I truly appreciate all that you do for my students and me. Thank you for always helping make our classroom such a special place to learn and grow.","fullyFundedDate":1777933550301,"projectUrl":"project/crayola-colored-pencils-for-the-class/10245053/","projectTitle":"Crayola Colored Pencils for the Class!","teacherDisplayName":"Mrs. S. Garofalo","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp3138413_orig.jpg?crop=3024,3024,x0,y614&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1671577817898","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/mrs-sg"},{"teacherId":8851284,"projectId":9992692,"letterContent":"My students had a blast learning about the Spheros! They began by understanding how to connect them to their devices via bluetooth. Following this, they explored how to move the spheros by \"driving them\" and drawing paths for them to follow. Finally, they began to connect what they know about Block Coding in order to understand how programs that are written can be used to control a hardware device. \r\n\r\nThe Spheros are helping students continue to become fluent in coding. They are highly engaging due to the hands-on nature of the devices. The students were excited the second the boxes were opened and caught on very quickly. One student in particular, who is learning English, was able to write programs that made his Sphero change colors, play sounds, and move forward and then return to him! \r\n\r\nAll of these coding skills and activities are precursors to learning how to write code using other, more sophisticated languages such as JavaScript and Python. Students are also learning how to problem solve when programs don't work and how to sequence a set of directions clearly. Next year, the plan is to continue to use these Spheros with second and third graders. They will be given task cards with specific tasks and objectives to complete. They will also be using them to play STEM inspired games. \r\n\r\nThank you very much for funding this projects so that we can continue to teach students the computer science skills they need before moving into secondary schools!","fullyFundedDate":1777933550141,"projectUrl":"project/sphero-mini/9992692/","projectTitle":"Sphero Mini!","teacherDisplayName":"Mrs. Capurro","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp8851284_orig.jpg?crop=1:1,smart&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1670544278087","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/jennifer-capurro"},{"teacherId":7492730,"projectId":9913294,"letterContent":"Thank you so much for supporting my \"Art for the Heart\" project. Your generosity is providing my students with meaningful opportunities to express themselves, build confidence, and experience joy through creativity.\r\nArt is such an important outlet for young learners. These materials will allow my students to explore their emotions, strengthen fine motor skills, and develop their imaginations in a safe and encouraging environment. Whether they are drawing, painting, or creating something entirely unique, they are learning that their ideas and voices matter.\r\nBecause of your support, our classroom will be filled with more color, creativity, and connection. My students are already so excited to use these supplies, and I know they will inspire countless moments of pride and self-expression throughout the year.\r\nThank you for believing in the power of art and for making a lasting impact on our classroom community. Your kindness and generosity mean so much to us!","fullyFundedDate":1764542695124,"projectUrl":"project/art-for-the-heart/9913294/","projectTitle":"Art for the Heart","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Kelly","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp7492730_orig.jpg?crop=959,959,x0,y0&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1683832471213","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/mskelly1102"},{"teacherId":7492730,"projectId":9926441,"letterContent":"Thank you so much for supporting my \"Tiny Hands, Tidy Classroom\" project. Your generosity is helping create a classroom environment where my students can learn, grow, and thrive each day.\r\nWith these materials, my students will have access to organized, accessible supplies that help our classroom run more smoothly and independently. At this age, learning how to care for materials, clean up after activities, and take responsibility for shared spaces are such important life skills. A tidy and well-organized classroom also helps students stay focused, calm, and ready to learn.\r\nYour kindness is making a direct impact on our daily routines and learning experiences. My students are so excited to use these new tools, and I am incredibly grateful for your support, encouragement, and belief in our classroom community.\r\nThank you for helping make our classroom a more welcoming and functional space for tiny hands and growing minds!","fullyFundedDate":1764704196330,"projectUrl":"project/tiny-hands-tidy-classroom/9926441/","projectTitle":"Tiny Hands, Tidy Classroom","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Kelly","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp7492730_orig.jpg?crop=959,959,x0,y0&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1683832471213","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/mskelly1102"}],"pageName":"schoolpage_367","usesDonorsChoose":true,"infoPageType":"school","demographicsInfo":{"numStudents":714,"numTeachers":50,"percentFrplEligible":43,"percentAsian":5,"percentBlack":7,"percentWhite":32,"percentIndigenous":0,"percentLatinx":47,"showFreeAndReducedPriceLunchInfo":true,"showDemographicsInfo":true,"sourceTooltipString":"the National Center for Education Statistics","percentHawaiianImputed":0,"percentMultiracialImputed":5,"gradesServed":"K - 5","studentTeacherRatio":"14.3:1","demographicsDataSource":"MDR School","equityFocus":true,"titleOne":false,"metroType":"URBAN","ncesMetroType":"CITY_LARGE"},"inStateSupporters":70.9,"schoolId":367,"financialInfo":null,"twitterShareText":"Learn more about PS 81 Robert J Christen on @DonorsChoose:","schoolName":"PS 81 Robert J Christen","canonicalPageUrl":"schools/new-york/new-york-city-dept-of-ed/ps-81-robert-j-christen/367"}