{"monthlySchoolDonationEnabled":true,"callToActionDisplayName":"Van Derveer Elementary School","outOfStateSupporters":26.5,"allowSchoolLevelGiving":true,"hasFundedProjects":true,"projectGratitudeData":[{"teacherId":10579616,"projectId":10455431,"letterContent":"I cannot begin to express how grateful I am for your generosity and the incredible impact this project has had on both myself and my preschool students. Your donations have truly helped transform our classroom into an even more engaging, welcoming, and enriching environment where young learners have the opportunity to explore, discover, create, and grow. As a preschool teacher, there is nothing more rewarding than watching children develop confidence, gain independence, discover new interests, and experience those exciting little moments when something finally clicks. Your contributions have helped make so many of those moments possible.\r\n\r\nEach item donated has found a special place in our classroom and serves a meaningful purpose in our students' everyday learning experiences. The materials have allowed me to provide more hands-on, interactive, and developmentally appropriate learning opportunities while supporting the different interests, abilities, and needs of each child.\r\n\r\nOur new upholstered toddler couch has made such a wonderful addition to our classroom library. It has created a cozy, inviting space where children can relax with a book, enjoy stories with friends, and develop a love of reading. The feelings and emotions puzzles and feelings family hand puppets have also been especially meaningful. We use these materials to talk about emotions, recognize how others might be feeling, and practice expressing ourselves. The puppets have become a favorite in our library center and provide wonderful opportunities for imaginative play, conversations, and social-emotional learning.\r\n\r\nThe calming sensory tubes have given our students another helpful way to explore self-regulation and find moments of calm throughout their day. The kinetic sand has been a favorite at our sensory table, encouraging creativity, sensory exploration, fine motor development, and imaginative play. Materials such as the silly suckers suction toy manipulatives have also provided fun opportunities to strengthen fine motor skills, problem-solving, and hand-eye coordination.\r\n\r\nOur learning centers have also benefited tremendously from your generosity. The magnetic building tiles are used frequently in our Discovery and Science Center, where students experiment, build, problem-solve, and explore their own ideas. The changing-of-the-seasons sensory tubes have been especially exciting as we begin our Tree Study. They have encouraged students to observe, ask questions, make connections, and explore the natural world around them. Our garden critter counters and fruit counters have provided opportunities to practice counting, sorting, comparing, and recognizing patterns through meaningful, hands-on activities. The attribute apples have also been a wonderful addition to our dramatic play and kitchen center, allowing children to incorporate sorting, classifying, and early math concepts into their pretend play.\r\n\r\nYour donations have made an especially meaningful difference in our early literacy and math instruction. The textured touch-and-trace uppercase and lowercase letters have been used frequently as we introduce new letters through our Kickstart Literacy program. Having the opportunity to see, touch, and trace letters helps make learning more interactive and accessible for our young learners. The Mirror My Sound phoneme set and auditory reading phones have provided additional opportunities for students to explore letter sounds, listen to themselves, develop phonological awareness, and build the foundational skills needed for reading.\r\n\r\nThe double-sided dry erase boards, markers, and erasers, 10-frames, and magnetic number tracing boards have also become valuable tools during our early math lessons. Students love having their own materials to practice writing, recognizing, and representing numbers. These resources allow children to participate actively, build confidence, and learn through doing rather than simply watching. The laminating sheets have also helped me prepare and preserve reusable learning materials, allowing me to create activities that can be used and enjoyed by our students throughout the school year.\r\n\r\nEven the donation of crackers and Goldfish snacks has made a difference in our classroom. Having snacks available helps support our little learners throughout their busy school day and allows us to focus on creating a positive, comfortable, and nurturing classroom experience.\r\n\r\nAs their teacher, these donations have meant so much to me personally. They have given me additional resources and opportunities to bring my ideas to life, create more meaningful learning experiences, and better meet the individual needs of my students. I am constantly looking for ways to make our classroom a place where every child feels included, valued, supported, and excited to come to school. Your generosity has helped me do exactly that.\r\n\r\nBut perhaps the greatest impact is seen through the children themselves. It is in their excitement when they discover a new material, the pride on their faces when they successfully complete a puzzle, the conversations they have while playing with friends, the confidence they gain when recognizing a new letter or number, and the smiles that come from simply having the opportunity to explore something new. These may seem like little moments, but in preschool, they are BIG accomplishments!\r\n\r\nThank you for believing in our classroom, investing in our youngest learners, and helping make our school days even more special. Your generosity has touched our classroom in so many ways, and these materials will continue to benefit our students for months and years to come. I hope you know how much your kindness is appreciated and how meaningful your contributions have been.\r\n\r\nFrom the bottom of my heart, thank you for helping make our classroom a place where little minds can grow, little hands can explore, and big possibilities begin!","fullyFundedDate":1787192346438,"projectUrl":"project/building-bright-minds-one-manipulative/10455431/","projectTitle":"Building Bright Minds, One Manipulative at a Time","teacherDisplayName":"Mrs. Walsh","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://cdn.donorschoose.net/images/placeholder-avatars/272/teacher-placeholder-9_272.png?auto=webp","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/10579616"}],"pageName":"schoolpage_82192","usesDonorsChoose":true,"infoPageType":"school","demographicsInfo":{"numStudents":745,"numTeachers":72,"percentFrplEligible":43,"percentAsian":8,"percentBlack":7,"percentWhite":41,"percentIndigenous":0,"percentLatinx":36,"showFreeAndReducedPriceLunchInfo":true,"showDemographicsInfo":true,"sourceTooltipString":"the National Center for Education Statistics","percentHawaiianImputed":0,"percentMultiracialImputed":5,"gradesServed":"Pre-K - 5","studentTeacherRatio":"10.3:1","demographicsDataSource":"MDR School","equityFocus":false,"titleOne":false,"metroType":"SUBURBAN","ncesMetroType":"SUBURB_LARGE"},"inStateSupporters":73.5,"schoolId":82192,"financialInfo":null,"twitterShareText":"Learn more about Van Derveer Elementary School on @DonorsChoose:","schoolName":"Van Derveer Elementary School","canonicalPageUrl":"schools/new-jersey/somerville-public-school-district/van-derveer-elementary-school/82192"}