{"monthlySchoolDonationEnabled":true,"callToActionDisplayName":"The Friendship School","outOfStateSupporters":39.0,"allowSchoolLevelGiving":true,"hasFundedProjects":true,"projectGratitudeData":[{"teacherId":9518989,"projectId":10357158,"letterContent":"Sometimes, the most important lessons in our classroom have nothing to do with reading, writing, or math. Sometimes, they are about learning how to take a deep breath, ask for help, work through frustration, or simply believe in ourselves. Thanks to your incredible generosity, our project, \"Tools to Help Our Young Learners Regulate, Focus, and Thrive,\" has helped us create a classroom environment that supports those important moments!\r\n\r\nWith our new sensory materials, fidgets, and positive affirmation wall, we are creating a space where students have access to tools that help them feel comfortable, confident, and ready to learn. Our affirmation wall serves as a reminder that everyone is capable of amazing things, while our sensory tools give students different ways to meet their individual needs throughout the day. One of the things I love most about teaching special education is discovering what works for each child. What helps one student feel calm might help another stay focused, and having a variety of resources allows us to embrace those differences rather than expect every child to learn or respond in the same way.\r\n\r\nMoving forward, we will continue practicing emotional awareness, positive self-talk, coping strategies, and independence as part of our everyday classroom routines. My hope is that these tools will help my students not only find success in our classroom but also develop skills they can carry with them far beyond it. Every child deserves to feel understood, encouraged, and proud of who they are, and your kindness is helping make that possible.\r\n\r\nThank you for helping turn our classroom into a place where little learners can build big confidence, one day at a time!\r\n\r\nWith love and appreciation,\r\n\r\nMiss B 💕\r\nK–1 Special Education Teacher","fullyFundedDate":1784132802679,"projectUrl":"project/tools-to-help-our-young-learners-regulat/10357158/","projectTitle":"Tools to Help Our Young Learners Regulate, Focus, and Thrive","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Birkbeck ❤️","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp9518989_orig.jpg?crop=2208,2208,x0,y7&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1782681529127","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/9518989"},{"teacherId":9518989,"projectId":10357211,"letterContent":"Thank you so much for your generosity and support of our project, \"Empowering Emerging Readers Through Phonics!\" As a first-year special education teacher working with kindergarten and first-grade students, I cannot express how much it means to have people who believe in my students and their potential. Your kindness has helped bring new reading and writing resources into our classroom, giving my students more opportunities to learn, explore, and grow!\r\n\r\nWe have been using our new materials to strengthen foundational literacy skills, including letter recognition, letter sounds, phonemic awareness, beginning reading, and writing. For many of my students, learning to read and write can be challenging, so having engaging, hands-on resources makes such a difference. These materials allow us to practice important skills in ways that are interactive, meaningful, and tailored to each student's individual needs. One of the most rewarding parts of teaching is watching a student recognize a letter, connect it to a sound, or write something independently and seeing the pride that follows. Those moments may seem small, but in our classroom, they are HUGE accomplishments!\r\n\r\nAs we continue our literacy journey, we will be building on these foundational skills to help students become more confident and independent readers and writers. Your generosity has given us more than just classroom materials; it has given my students additional opportunities to experience success and discover what they are capable of achieving. Thank you for investing in their education and helping me create a classroom where every learner has the opportunity to shine. We are so grateful for your support!\r\n\r\nWith heartfelt thanks,\r\n\r\nMiss B 💕\r\nK–1 Special Education Teacher\r\n\r\n*Little steps, big progress!*","fullyFundedDate":1783304953038,"projectUrl":"project/empowering-emerging-readers-through-phon/10357211/","projectTitle":"Empowering Emerging Readers Through Phonics","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Birkbeck ❤️","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp9518989_orig.jpg?crop=2208,2208,x0,y7&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1782681529127","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/9518989"},{"teacherId":8822604,"projectId":9017184,"letterContent":"Our class last year and this year have loved our new toys and books regarding community helpers! We have learned so much about the different helpers in our community, how they help us and the tools they use. We've used the materials to learn about our favorite community helper and act out their roles.\r\n\r\nThank you so much for your donations and generosity. It means so much to my students and I. Your donations helped us afford materials that supported our learning every day during our community helper units!","fullyFundedDate":1740240035512,"projectUrl":"project/daily-helpers-in-our-lives/9017184/","projectTitle":"Daily Helpers in Our Lives","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Hopkins","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp8822604_orig.jpg?crop=2106,2106,x0,y315&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1785104709879","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/8822604"},{"teacherId":8347248,"projectId":9140780,"letterContent":"When our magnetic tiles arrived, the students' excitement filled the room! They immediately began exploring how the pieces fit together — testing, stacking, and experimenting with balance and shape. It was incredible to watch their curiosity and creativity take over. Within minutes, small groups formed naturally as students collaborated to build castles, bridges, and even entire \"towns.\" These open-ended materials have quickly become one of the most loved and frequently used resources in our classroom.\r\n\r\nThe Magnetic Minds materials are helping students strengthen a wide range of skills every day. They're developing reasoning and problem-solving as they figure out how to make their structures stand tall. They're building communication and cooperation skills as they share ideas and work together toward a common goal. And they're growing in spatial awareness, fine-motor coordination, and perseverance each time they rebuild or improve on a design that didn't work the first time. These moments are full of authentic learning — the kind that happens through exploration, discussion, and joyful discovery.\r\n\r\nAs we move forward, students will continue using the tiles to extend their learning into STEM and story-based projects. For example, they've begun designing buildings to match the settings in our read-alouds and are starting to connect their structures to simple science lessons about magnets and stability. The possibilities feel endless! Thanks to your generosity, our classroom is filled with meaningful, hands-on opportunities for students to think like engineers, collaborate like teammates, and imagine like artists every single day.","fullyFundedDate":1750867273455,"projectUrl":"project/magnetic-minds-engineering-playful-lear/9140780/","projectTitle":"Magnetic Minds: Engineering Playful Learning","teacherDisplayName":"Mrs. Lamothe","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp8347248_orig.jpg?crop=1:1,smart&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1652316453552","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/8347248"}],"pageName":"schoolpage_31600","usesDonorsChoose":true,"infoPageType":"school","demographicsInfo":{"numStudents":95,"numTeachers":44,"percentFrplEligible":67,"percentAsian":2,"percentBlack":10,"percentWhite":30,"percentIndigenous":0,"percentLatinx":42,"showFreeAndReducedPriceLunchInfo":true,"showDemographicsInfo":true,"sourceTooltipString":"the National Center for Education Statistics","percentHawaiianImputed":0,"percentMultiracialImputed":14,"gradesServed":"Pre-K - K","studentTeacherRatio":"2.2:1","demographicsDataSource":"MDR School","equityFocus":true,"titleOne":true,"metroType":"SUBURBAN","ncesMetroType":"SUBURB_MIDSIZE"},"inStateSupporters":61.0,"schoolId":31600,"financialInfo":null,"twitterShareText":"Learn more about The Friendship School on @DonorsChoose:","schoolName":"The Friendship School","canonicalPageUrl":"schools/connecticut/connecticut-department-of-education/friendship-school/31600"}