Oleander Elementary School in Fontana, California on DonorsChoose

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All of this fine motor practice will strengthen their little hands and prepare them for future writing tasks.\r\nThank you again!","fullyFundedDate":1763564859658,"projectUrl":"project/fine-motor-fun/9709517/","projectTitle":"Fine Motor Fun","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Cherniss","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/272x272/tp1858910_272x272.jpg?width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1519179042445","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/misscherniss"},{"teacherId":1858910,"projectId":9529583,"letterContent":"I was so excited for my students to experience their new classroom sensory table! I waited until they returned from Thanksgiving Break to set it up in our room and they were all very interested to find out what it was. \r\nEvery student was able to use it during our small group rotations and they all really enjoyed it! I was able to observe their use of the sensory items and see how they chose to use them. Some students sorted the items by color, size, or type. Others ran their hands through the items feeling the different textures. The open ended play that our new sensory items will encourage, will make learning fun for all!\r\nThank you again!","fullyFundedDate":1757642515877,"projectUrl":"project/sensory-fun/9529583/","projectTitle":"Sensory Fun!","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Cherniss","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/272x272/tp1858910_272x272.jpg?width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1519179042445","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/misscherniss"},{"teacherId":1858910,"projectId":9111319,"letterContent":"Thank you for your generosity! My students really enjoy their new science centers! They spent over an hour using them today! Having access to open ended science activities allows them to learn and explore on their own terms. I really like that my classroom aide and I only need to demonstrate how to use the kits once and then the centers are completely student ran. Watching them discover the different things that magnets can do was very fun! Their faces would light up every time they made something move using a magnet!","fullyFundedDate":1745846910448,"projectUrl":"project/science-rocks/9111319/","projectTitle":"Science Rocks!","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Cherniss","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/272x272/tp1858910_272x272.jpg?width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1519179042445","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/misscherniss"},{"teacherId":1858910,"projectId":9014158,"letterContent":"Thank you for your generous support! My students are really excited about our lifecycle unit! The posters and books have helped enrich my lessons and the hands-on planting activity was a lot of fun! They are patiently waiting for their seeds to sprout. :)\r\n Next week we will begin the lessons about butterflies and will have the opportunity to watch live caterpillars transform into beautiful butterflies! Your generosity has given me the tools I need to make learning more meaningful for my students and I really appreciate your help!","fullyFundedDate":1738074017429,"projectUrl":"project/learning-about-lifecycles/9014158/","projectTitle":"Learning About Lifecycles","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Cherniss","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/272x272/tp1858910_272x272.jpg?width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1519179042445","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/misscherniss"},{"teacherId":1858910,"projectId":9104106,"letterContent":"Thank you for your generosity! My students absolutely love using their new math centers! They have so much fun working on sorting, counting, and making patterns. I am able to walk around and check on them while they are working in small groups which gives me the opportunity to do quick checks for understanding. I now have a better idea about which students need extra help and which students are ready for accelerated activities. Hands on learning is my student's favorite way to learn and your generous donation helps make it possible!","fullyFundedDate":1739368347292,"projectUrl":"project/we-love-math/9104106/","projectTitle":"We Love Math!","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Cherniss","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/272x272/tp1858910_272x272.jpg?width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1519179042445","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/misscherniss"},{"teacherId":1858910,"projectId":9089703,"letterContent":"Thank you for your generosity! My students were so excited when I told them about our new sandbox toys! They had to wait a few days to use them due to inclement weather, but today's warm and sunny day was perfect for their first time using our new and improved sandboxes! They have been using regular sand for a while, but they would ask me daily why they can't use it to make a sandcastle (the sand is too dry). When I explained the kinetic sand and that they can use it to mold and build castles, etc., a cheer erupted in the classroom. The addition of the seashells with letters and numbers has made their \"old\" sand new and exciting as well! Thank you again for your support!","fullyFundedDate":1738936588032,"projectUrl":"project/learning-outside-is-cool/9089703/","projectTitle":"Learning Outside Is Cool!","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Cherniss","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/272x272/tp1858910_272x272.jpg?width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1519179042445","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/misscherniss"},{"teacherId":1858910,"projectId":8839037,"letterContent":"Thank you for your generous donations! My students now have access to dozens of new books because of you! In Transitional Kindergarten, they are just learning about books, how to handle them, how to share them, and how to listen and follow along with a story. They are also learning about letters and sounds and how to read high frequency words (the, me, I, etc.). Having these new books allows me to have small reading groups during our day. 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About this school

Oleander Elementary School is a suburban public school in Fontana, California that is part of Fontana Unified School District. It serves 561 students in grades Pre-K - 5 with a student/teacher ratio of 17.0:1. Its teachers have had 28 projects funded on DonorsChoose.

Equity Focus School

Support towards this school will directly impact historically underfunded classrooms.

Public School

Title 1

Grades Pre-K - 5

561 Students

33 Teachers

8650 Oleander Ave

Fontana, CA 92335 View local requests

http://www.fusd.net

Evidence-based impact

Inspire teachers to stay in the classroom and boost student achievement.¹

Give to this school

Ms. Vero, a DonorsChoose teacher for 9 years.

Kindergarten teacher at PS81 - Robert J. Christen School in Bronx, NY

Oleander Elementary School Teachers on DonorsChoose

Mrs. Bear

Ms. Cherniss

Ms. Williams

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Oleander Elementary School Demographics

81%

of students receive free or reduced price lunch

Source: the National Center for Education Statistics

96%

of students are Black, Latino, Native American, or Asian

Schools in districts that mainly serve students of color receive substantially less state and local support than similar districts that serve primarily White students. Learn more about this gap, why it exists, and how you can help close it.

Oleander Elementary School Support on DonorsChoose Last updated Dec 5, 2025

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