{"monthlySchoolDonationEnabled":true,"callToActionDisplayName":"Paul Laurence Dunbar School","outOfStateSupporters":45.4,"allowSchoolLevelGiving":true,"hasFundedProjects":true,"projectGratitudeData":[{"teacherId":9592071,"projectId":9798032,"letterContent":"Thank you, truly and warmly, for your generous support of our project, \"Organized Learning Tools for Hands-On Math and Writing Success.\" Because of your kindness, our students will have the hands-on materials and organized resources they need to explore math concepts and develop confident writing skills in ways that are engaging, concrete, and meaningful. Your contribution will:\r\nProvide manipulatives and writing toolkits that make abstract ideas accessible.\r\nHelp create organized stations that foster independent learning and collaboration.\r\nGive students repeated, guided practice that builds both skill and confidence.\r\nSeeing students dive into activities, share ideas, and grow more confident is already proving that this investment matters. You've helped create learning moments that will stick with them long after the school year ends. On behalf of our students, staff, and families, thank you for believing in hands-on learning and for making this project possible. We'll keep you updated with photos, student reflections, and progress reports so you can see the difference you've made.","fullyFundedDate":1761766724938,"projectUrl":"project/organized-learning-tools-for-hands-on-ma/9798032/","projectTitle":"Organized Learning Tools for Hands-On Math and Writing Success","teacherDisplayName":"Mr. Gandarilla","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://cdn.donorschoose.net/images/placeholder-avatars/272/teacher-placeholder-6_272.png?auto=webp","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/9592071"},{"teacherId":10166850,"projectId":9570803,"letterContent":"On behalf of my fifth-grade students and myself, thank you so much for your incredibly generous donation to our classroom. Your kindness and thoughtfulness have made a meaningful impact on our learning environment.\r\n\r\nBecause of your support, my students now have access to resources and materials that will enhance their daily learning experiences and help keep them engaged, motivated, and excited about school. They are truly grateful and I am deeply appreciative of your generosity.\r\n\r\nIt is because of individuals like you that our classroom continues to be a positive, supportive, and inspiring place for students to grow. Thank you again for investing in our students and in their future.","fullyFundedDate":1761843093284,"projectUrl":"project/miss-thomas-rocks-her-first-year/9570803/","projectTitle":"Miss. Thomas Rocks Her First Year!","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Thomas","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp10166850_orig.png?crop=1:1,smart&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1755192086248","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/10166850"},{"teacherId":10210813,"projectId":9804281,"letterContent":"Thank you for your generous grant, our middle school classrooms were completely transformed this semester. By providing individual copies of Jerry Spinelli's Stargirl for every student, you didn't just give us books; you gave us a shared language for kindness, individuality, and empathy.\r\nI am honored to share the profound impact this gift has had on our students.\r\n\r\nThrough the lens of Leo and Stargirl's journey, our students moved beyond simple reading comprehension to tackle complex social-emotional and academic skills. Scholars explored the tension between \"fitting in\" and being true to oneself. This led to powerful classroom discussions about peer pressure and the ethics of how we treat those who are different. We utilized the book to master skills in character development, symbolism and character traits .Students debated the \"vanishing\" of Stargirl's identity, analyzing how a community's expectations can change a person.\r\nWith a physical book in every hand,Reading became a communal experience rather than a solitary task.\r\nOn any given day, you would see:\r\nStudents sitting in a circle, citing specific pages to defend their opinions on the characters' choices.\r\n• Annotation Stations: Students using sticky notes to mark moments that made them feel \"connected\" or \"uncomfortable.\"or taking notes in their ELA notebook.\r\nWe moved away from silent, isolated reading toward a model of dialogue-based learning.\r\nThe most beautiful part of this project was how Stargirl resonated with our most vulnerable populations:\r\nBecause Spinelli's prose is clear and emotionally resonant, our MLL scholars were able to follow the plot while picking up nuanced American idioms. The universal themes of \"belonging\" allowed them to contribute to discussions using their own cultural experiences.\r\n For students who typically struggle with literacy, Stargirl served as a \"hook.\" The short chapters and high-interest plot reduced \"reading fatigue.\" We saw several self-identified \"non-readers\" finish the book entirely—some for the first time in their lives—because they were so invested in whether Stargirl would win over the school.\r\n For students who often feel like \"outsiders\" due to learning differences, Stargirl became a hero. They saw themselves reflected in a character who was celebrated for her uniqueness, which boosted their confidence both socially and academically. Heartfelt thank you","fullyFundedDate":1761178318896,"projectUrl":"project/stargirl-novels/9804281/","projectTitle":"Stargirl Novels","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Mendes","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp10210813_orig.jpg?crop=1:1,smart&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1755871945744","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/10210813"},{"teacherId":3233200,"projectId":9706415,"letterContent":"WOW! What an amazing day we had today! The kindergarten students were shocked to see a big wrapped box on our rug this morning. They worked together to open it and were even more surprised by its contents. They love their new LEGO sets. LEGO is their go-to choice for indoor recess. They enjoy making zoos and pet stores. I know they are going to have an amazing winter break with their new toys. We couldn't have done it without all of your help and support! Thank you so much for all you do DALIO and Donors Choose!","fullyFundedDate":1757890315194,"projectUrl":"project/lego-for-the-holidays/9706415/","projectTitle":"LEGO for the Holidays","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Weaver","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp3233200_orig.jpg?crop=1:1,smart&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1661689523681","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/3233200"},{"teacherId":5512797,"projectId":9580595,"letterContent":"My students and I want to extend our sincere gratitude for your generous support of our recent classroom project. Thanks to your donation, the tools we received have already begun transforming our learning environment.\r\n\r\nMy students have enjoyed completing activities after listening to the picture books that were included in our project. In November, students in grades K-5 completed several projects following reading \"Peyton Picks the Perfect Pie\". They were able to participate in activities targeting vocabulary, sentence structure, narrative retell, and predicting. \r\n\r\nThe impact of this project is immeasurable. During our groups, students are engaged, excited about the material and most importantly they are learning. \r\n\r\nWe will continue to explore the additional picture books in our upcoming lessons this school year.","fullyFundedDate":1757353924512,"projectUrl":"project/lets-level-up-with-literacy/9580595/","projectTitle":"Let's Level Up With Literacy!","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Little-Hall","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp5512797_orig.jpg?crop=288,288,x0,y0&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1755016468742","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/5512797"},{"teacherId":8854200,"projectId":9401538,"letterContent":"Thank you very much for the fantastic headphones. All of the students have been using them daily, no wires have been broken, and they have shown to be extremely rugged against the abuse of my first graders. Having these sturdy headphones allows my small groups to not be interrupted by students with broken headphones and/or noise while students use their IPad to work on their learning apps. It helps to keep the students on task and focused while using the apps without the distraction of volume from their peer's IPads. My students were all very happy and grateful to receive the headphones. They said they are comfortable to wear and seem to fit their smaller heads. Thank you for giving my students the ability to learn in a quiet and comfortable environment.","fullyFundedDate":1753924388130,"projectUrl":"project/help-keep-the-noise-down/9401538/","projectTitle":"Help Keep the Noise Down","teacherDisplayName":"Mrs. Dewey","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp8854200_orig.jpg?crop=1:1,smart&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1720473090692","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/8854200"},{"teacherId":3233200,"projectId":9699177,"letterContent":"Thank you all so very much for all of the amazing supplies! The students had so much fun making their sensory bottles. We had plenty of glitter, sequins, and pompoms for everyone to make their own unique creation. \r\n Social emotional learning is a big deal in kindergarten. I wanted each student to have their own calm down jar to help them in a time of need. The students are going to enjoy going to the calm down corner and shaking their bottle to regulate their feelings and emotions as needed. Thank you so much again for everything donors and Donors Choose!","fullyFundedDate":1757550305182,"projectUrl":"project/sensory-bottles/9699177/","projectTitle":"Sensory Bottles","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Weaver","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp3233200_orig.jpg?crop=1:1,smart&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1661689523681","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/3233200"},{"teacherId":3233200,"projectId":9738341,"letterContent":"Thank you all so very much for your generosity and kindness! My kinders are ecstatic about all of the new books in our classroom library. I have enough copies of the Old Lady series for each student to choose their own book to take home and enjoy with their families. They are huge fans of Pinkalicious so those books have been very popular in the library area as well. I am super excited about the Books on Strike series and can't wait to introduce my class to those entertaining stories. Thanks again for everything donors & Donors Choose! Such an awesome surprise!","fullyFundedDate":1758678178381,"projectUrl":"project/relax-read/9738341/","projectTitle":"Relax & Read","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Weaver","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp3233200_orig.jpg?crop=1:1,smart&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1661689523681","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/3233200"},{"teacherId":8854200,"projectId":9401599,"letterContent":"Thank you so much for donating to our extra extra read all about it project. My students and I have been able to enjoy the magazines to support our SEL, social studies, literacy, and science learning. The magazines have brought a lot more discussions to my class and really have supported students sharing their thoughts and ideas. The students increase their literacy skills when reading the articles and then also going back into the article to answer our discussion and/or work sheet questions. The students enjoy the weekly addition to our curriculum. Thank you so much for supporting my students learning.","fullyFundedDate":1751934627354,"projectUrl":"project/extra-extra-read-all-about-it/9401599/","projectTitle":"Extra Extra Read All About It!","teacherDisplayName":"Mrs. Dewey","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp8854200_orig.jpg?crop=1:1,smart&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1720473090692","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/8854200"},{"teacherId":8149669,"projectId":9394955,"letterContent":"Thank you so much for your generous gift of headphones for our classroom. Your kindness has made a real and immediate impact on our learning environment.\r\nHaving headphones will allow my students to concentrate and focus while using technology—something that has become an essential part of our day-to-day learning. \r\n\r\nOur iPads are used across all subject areas, especially in math, literacy, and science. The educational apps we use help reinforce important skills, provide individualized practice, and support students in filling learning gaps at their own pace.\r\n\r\nWith the addition of headphones, students can now better block out classroom noise and fully engage with their learning. They'll be able to follow detailed instructions, answer questions thoughtfully, record their voices, and immerse themselves in stories—all with greater focus and confidence.\r\n\r\nWe are truly grateful for your support. You've helped create a more focused, effective, and joyful learning experience for each of my students.","fullyFundedDate":1750255547405,"projectUrl":"project/only-for-your-ears/9394955/","projectTitle":"Only for Your Ears","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Stanko","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://cdn.donorschoose.net/images/placeholder-avatars/272/teacher-placeholder-5_272.png?auto=webp","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/8149669"},{"teacherId":8149669,"projectId":9394908,"letterContent":"On behalf of our kindergarten class, I want to express my heartfelt gratitude for your generous contribution toward the purchase of Scholastic magazines for our students.\r\n\r\nThanks to your support, each child in our classroom now receives engaging, age-appropriate reading materials that spark curiosity, encourage early literacy, and make learning fun. These magazines have become a highlight of our weekly routine—filled with exciting stories, colorful visuals, and topics that inspire our students to ask questions and explore the world around them. The digital resources that can be shared on our Promethean Board support beginning readers with a text-to-speech feature that highlights text as it reads aloud. My students especially enjoy the video, dance break, vocabulary, and game features.\r\n\r\nYour kindness is making a real difference in our children's educational journey, helpin to instill a love of reading at an early age. We are so grateful for your belief in the power of learning and your willingness to invest in our young learners' futures.\r\n\r\nThank you again for your interest and support in helping my kindergartners gain a better understanding of current topics and to love learning about their world.","fullyFundedDate":1750255550977,"projectUrl":"project/we-love-to-use-scholastic-news/9394908/","projectTitle":"We Love to Use Scholastic News!","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Stanko","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://cdn.donorschoose.net/images/placeholder-avatars/272/teacher-placeholder-5_272.png?auto=webp","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/8149669"},{"teacherId":3233200,"projectId":9377285,"letterContent":"Thank you again for all of your support and gratitude for my kindergarten students. Thanks to all of you, my students have all new school supplies to use this school year. They love the Crayola colored pencils and crayons and use them on a daily basis. The Ticonderoga pencils are used to complete literacy & math assignments. The glue sicks are a big hit at the art center. The markers are for special occasions and we will definitely use them for the thank you cards. Thank you again from my kinders! I couldn't have done it without all of you supporting my classroom!","fullyFundedDate":1753288491004,"projectUrl":"project/creating-with-crayola/9377285/","projectTitle":"Creating with Crayola","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Weaver","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp3233200_orig.jpg?crop=1:1,smart&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1661689523681","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/3233200"}],"pageName":"schoolpage_50151","usesDonorsChoose":true,"infoPageType":"school","demographicsInfo":{"numStudents":391,"numTeachers":29,"percentFrplEligible":95,"percentAsian":1,"percentBlack":33,"percentWhite":3,"percentIndigenous":0,"percentLatinx":59,"showFreeAndReducedPriceLunchInfo":true,"showDemographicsInfo":true,"sourceTooltipString":"the National Center for Education Statistics","gradesServed":"Pre-K - 8","studentTeacherRatio":"13.5:1","demographicsDataSource":"MDR School","equityFocus":true,"titleOne":true,"metroType":"URBAN","ncesMetroType":"CITY_MIDSIZE"},"inStateSupporters":54.6,"schoolId":50151,"financialInfo":null,"twitterShareText":"Learn more about Paul Laurence Dunbar School on @DonorsChoose:","schoolName":"Paul Laurence Dunbar School","canonicalPageUrl":"schools/connecticut/bridgeport-public-schools/paul-lawrence-dunbar-elementary-school/50151"}