Sun Valley Elementary School in San Rafael, California on DonorsChoose

{"monthlySchoolDonationEnabled":true,"callToActionDisplayName":"Sun Valley Elementary School","outOfStateSupporters":9.1,"allowSchoolLevelGiving":true,"hasFundedProjects":true,"projectGratitudeData":[{"teacherId":8836625,"projectId":9907919,"letterContent":"On behalf of my fourth-grade students, I want to express my deepest gratitude for the incredible science materials you provided for our classroom—specifically, our new rocket launcher.\r\nIn science, there is a significant difference between reading about a concept and seeing it in action. Before your gift arrived, \"aerodynamics\" and \"thrust\" were just vocabulary words in a textbook. Now, they are lived experiences. When we took the launcher out for its first \"test flight,\" the excitement was palpable. Students who are usually quiet were suddenly leading discussions on how to adjust the launch angle to achieve a better trajectory\r\nThank you so much for your generous contribution to our classroom! Because of your support, my students will move beyond the textbook and into the roles of real-world scientists. Thank you for investing in their curiosity and helping our classroom reach new heights.\r\nYour donation is funding the owl pellets for our biology lab and the 1812 forensic mystery kit. These aren't just supplies; they are the \"spark\" moments that turn a curious student into a lifelong learner. Whether they are identifying tiny bones or using chemistry to solve a historical mystery, they are building the critical thinking skills they need for the future.\r\nWe can't wait to share photos of our discoveries with you!\r\nWith sincere thanks,\r\nRyan Hall,\r\nSun Valley School","fullyFundedDate":1764686913599,"projectUrl":"project/science-wake-up-call/9907919/","projectTitle":"Science Wake Up Call","teacherDisplayName":"Mr. Hall","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://cdn.donorschoose.net/images/placeholder-avatars/272/teacher-placeholder-3_272.png?auto=webp","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/8836625"},{"teacherId":8187812,"projectId":9896750,"letterContent":"Thank you so much for your generous support of our garden class. Because of your contribution, our students now have rain suits to use in our mud kitchen, and they have truly transformed our outdoor learning experience\r\n\r\nIn the mud kitchen, students combine water, mud, rocks, and plant materials with their imaginations to create pretend meals and play restaurant. It is a space filled with creativity, collaboration, and joyful mess! The rain suits make this experience an equitable choice for all students. Not every family has the financial resources to provide extra \"play clothes,\" and without protective gear, some children may feel stressed or limited in how fully they can participate. With these rain suits, every child can engage freely, knowing their clothes will stay clean. Your gift ensures that all students have equal access to hands-on, messy, imaginative play.\r\n\r\nBeyond equity, the suits also support student independence. Putting them on and taking them off gives children meaningful opportunities to practice fine motor skills and build autonomy. They are designed to be easy to manage, even for quick bathroom trips, helping students feel confident and capable.\r\n\r\nThe excitement has been incredible. The students love that the rain suits look like dinosaurs, and they proudly refer to themselves as \"Dino Chefs\" while cooking up their muddy creations. Their joy and enthusiasm say it all. In fact, the teachers have been so impressed with how well the suits work that they're hoping to order some for the TK play yard as well!\r\n\r\nYour generosity has made a real and lasting impact on our classroom community. Thank you for supporting equitable, imaginative, and developmentally rich play for our students. We are deeply grateful.","fullyFundedDate":1764686913407,"projectUrl":"project/rain-suits-for-the-mud-kitchen-garden/9896750/","projectTitle":"Rain Suits for the Mud Kitchen (Garden)","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Maddi","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://cdn.donorschoose.net/images/placeholder-avatars/272/teacher-placeholder-7_272.png?auto=webp","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/8187812"},{"teacherId":3776061,"projectId":8178532,"letterContent":"Thank you so much! The books I was able to purchase for this project are used again and again. I have so many choices at my fingertips when the class needs to deal with the big feelings that a come with being a 2nd grader: Feeling left out, feeling like you'll never be good at something, wondering how to talk to your friend about something difficult. \r\nThese books show diverse children dealing with a variety of every day (but important) issues and feeling and offer realistic solutions or suggestions for working through them. Kids need to learn that all feelings are okay and there are different ways to successfully deal with the ones that make us or someone else feel bad.\r\nOur school values are Kindness, Grit and Integrity and my Self worth and acceptance collection has many gems to help us live these values.Thank you so much!","fullyFundedDate":1708979774008,"projectUrl":"project/promoting-self-worth-and-acceptance-thro/8178532/","projectTitle":"Promoting Self-worth and Acceptance Through Diverse Storytelling","teacherDisplayName":"Mrs. de Blaauw","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp3776061_orig.jpg?crop=460,460,x522,y225&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1761953664320","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/pdeblaauw"},{"teacherId":3776061,"projectId":8185053,"letterContent":"Introducing new books to my students is one of my favorite parts of teaching! My class poured over the new Fairy Tales, Folk Tales an Fables I was able to purchase. Having so many choices and culturally diverse selections at my finger tips brings the stories and the reading standards to life! My Spanish speaking students loved being able to her classics and new stories in the their own language and all the students were fascinated at how stories likeCinderella come to life in most every culture.\r\n\r\nThis unit became a favorite of all of us and I can't wait to teach it again next. year. Thank you so much for conrributing!","fullyFundedDate":1706989418825,"projectUrl":"project/fairy-tale-folktale-and-fable-fun-in-2/8185053/","projectTitle":"Fairy-Tale, Folktale, and Fable Fun in 2nd grade.","teacherDisplayName":"Mrs. de Blaauw","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp3776061_orig.jpg?crop=460,460,x522,y225&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1761953664320","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/pdeblaauw"},{"teacherId":10163762,"projectId":9563762,"letterContent":"I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you all for generously donating towards my classroom. We have been so grateful for the donations we've received this school year, and the new materials we've been able to use and manipulate have encouraged creativity throughout the classroom community!\r\n\r\nWe have had students build giant sky-scrapers with magnatiles, large castles with their wooden building blocks, dynamic marble runs, and much more! \r\n\r\nWithout your support, our experiences would be a lot more limited and bare, so I appreciate your support for all my young, creative learners.","fullyFundedDate":1756218078486,"projectUrl":"project/fine-motor-skill-building-tools-collabo/9563762/","projectTitle":"Fine Motor Skill Building Tools, Collaboration, and Creativity!","teacherDisplayName":"Mr. Juri","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp10163762_orig.jpg?crop=1125,1125,x0,y0&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1754937959670","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/10163762"},{"teacherId":7870043,"projectId":8922093,"letterContent":"I cannot thank you enough for your generous donation. The kids have loved every single item purchased for this project. Every student has been touched by the materials we were able to order. The puzzles have been a huge hit and the kids love to work in pairs and individually. They absolutely love the floor puzzles. \r\n In PE the kids were introduced to paddles and beanbags and had a ball with them. This is perfect for hand-eye coordination. We have not only used the beanbags, but we've used balloons and small squish balls. Our kids get so excited when we bring them out. I can't thank you enough. \r\n The tracing and number center has been a huge hit. The kids love the fact that they can trace their numbers, erase them and start over. I love that they are engaged and having fun learning how to write their numbers and the example cards are so helpful. \r\n Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for choosing to donate to my TK classroom, I am beyond grateful.","fullyFundedDate":1733240950078,"projectUrl":"project/creativity-community-and-play-in-tk/8922093/","projectTitle":"Creativity, Community and Play in Tk","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Peters","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://cdn.donorschoose.net/images/placeholder-avatars/272/teacher-placeholder-2_272.png?auto=webp","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/7870043"}],"pageName":"schoolpage_4323","usesDonorsChoose":true,"infoPageType":"school","demographicsInfo":{"numStudents":509,"numTeachers":19,"percentFrplEligible":29,"percentAsian":4,"percentBlack":0,"percentWhite":55,"percentIndigenous":0,"percentLatinx":26,"showFreeAndReducedPriceLunchInfo":true,"showDemographicsInfo":true,"sourceTooltipString":"the National Center for Education Statistics","gradesServed":"Pre-K - 5","studentTeacherRatio":"26.8:1","demographicsDataSource":"MDR School","equityFocus":false,"titleOne":false,"metroType":"URBAN","ncesMetroType":"CITY_SMALL"},"inStateSupporters":90.9,"schoolId":4323,"financialInfo":null,"twitterShareText":"Learn more about Sun Valley Elementary School on @DonorsChoose:","schoolName":"Sun Valley Elementary School","canonicalPageUrl":"schools/california/san-rafael-city-elementary-school-district/sun-valley-elementary-school/4323"}

About this school

Sun Valley Elementary School is an urban public school in San Rafael, California that is part of San Rafael City Elementary School District. It serves 509 students in grades Pre-K - 5 with a student/teacher ratio of 26.8:1. Its teachers have had 27 projects funded on DonorsChoose.

Public School

Grades Pre-K - 5

509 Students

19 Teachers

75 Happy Ln

San Rafael, CA 94901 View local requests

http://sunvalley.srcs.org/

Direct, proactive support

Empower teachers at Sun Valley Elementary School to request what their students need.

Give to this school

Ms. Vero, a DonorsChoose teacher for 9 years.

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

Sun Valley Elementary School Teachers on DonorsChoose

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Sun Valley Elementary School Demographics

29%

of students receive free or reduced price lunch

Source: the National Center for Education Statistics

30%

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.

Sun Valley Elementary School Support on DonorsChoose Last updated Mar 20, 2026

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.