{"monthlySchoolDonationEnabled":false,"callToActionDisplayName":"Acero Charter School - Victoria Soto High School","outOfStateSupporters":42.0,"allowSchoolLevelGiving":true,"hasFundedProjects":true,"projectGratitudeData":[{"teacherId":5482707,"projectId":9263577,"letterContent":"Thanks to your generosity, my students now have access to books that reflect their identities, interests, and lived experiences. These new texts are not only engaging, but they also serve as tools to build essential literacy skills. In our classroom, we focus on lessons such as identifying character development, analyzing themes, and making personal connections to text. For struggling readers, these books provide a bridge to higher-level thinking through stories that feel familiar and affirming. Many of these titles also lend themselves to lessons on empathy, cultural awareness, and resilience—lessons that go far beyond the page.\r\n\r\nReading in our classroom is vibrant, student-driven, and deeply personal. Students read in small groups, participate in peer discussions, and use sentence frames and graphic organizers to express their ideas. The energy has completely shifted—students who once dreaded reading time now ask to read ahead. One student, who had previously never finished a chapter book, recently told me, \"I didn't know books could feel like real life.\" Another student, an English learner, was so excited to find a bilingual character facing similar challenges that she asked to borrow the book for the weekend. Your donation has truly created a ripple effect—sparking joy, building confidence, and changing how these students see themselves as readers.","fullyFundedDate":1749137566316,"projectUrl":"project/seeing-yourself-in-literature/9263577/","projectTitle":"Seeing Yourself in Literature","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Sajdak","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/272x272/tp5482707_272x272.jpg?width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1533479859139","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/ms-sajdak"},{"teacherId":9065512,"projectId":8093806,"letterContent":"Thank you for the wonderful supplies. My students were over the moon excited to see that now there is \"no excuse\" as to why we can't have an outdoor brain break. My boys were very excited to be able to play football since our school is a very soccer heavy. It was also exciting seeing the students get excited over the jump ropes and create a little double dutch match among each other. \r\n\r\n With the weather getting nice out my students and I have used our brain breaks to be physically active while building our classroom community. About 2 weeks after we've go our sports equipment my ESL newcomer class and I went over the vocabulary and brief history of each sport that we received equipment for such as soccer, basketball, football, jump rope, Frisbee, and volleyball. The students not only learned new vocabulary, random facts, but we were also able to grow a stronger classroom community. Thank you all again for supporting my classroom and giving my students something fun to look forward to when coming to my class.","fullyFundedDate":1707073950616,"projectUrl":"project/fun-no-matter-the-weather/8093806/","projectTitle":"Fun No Matter the Weather!","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Facio","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp9065512_orig.jpg?crop=1:1,smart&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1748536050557","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/ms-efacio"},{"teacherId":6283421,"projectId":9016741,"letterContent":"I want to extend my heartfelt thanks for your generous donation of kilowatt meters to our classroom! These small but powerful devices have made a big impact on how my students think about energy, science, and their own power to make change.\r\n\r\nMany of us are surrounded by technology every day, but it's not always obvious how it fits into education. The kilowatt meters have helped bridge that gap by turning abstract lessons about electricity into real, hands-on investigations. Instead of just reading about energy consumption, my students now measure it—right at their desks. They've plugged in lamps, fans, phone chargers, and even gaming consoles to see firsthand how much electricity different devices use. This makes the concept of kilowatt-hours and energy efficiency tangible, and it sparks critical conversations about environmental impact, energy conservation, and even household budgeting.\r\n\r\nWhat excites my students most is how these tools give them real data to work with. There's something magical about watching the numbers change on the screen when you plug in a blender or power up a laptop. It turns learning into a kind of detective work. They love experimenting—testing how much power is saved by switching to LED bulbs or unplugging idle devices. They've even started challenging each other to find the most efficient setup for a \"low-energy\" workspace.\r\n\r\nOne student in particular, Carlos, has really taken off with this project. He's always been curious but sometimes struggled to stay engaged with traditional assignments. When we started using the kilowatt meters, he became the class expert overnight. He brings in his own devices from home to test, and he's started teaching others how to track energy usage. He recently shared a mini-report on his family's energy consumption with the class—and he's already thinking about a science fair project that could help his community lower utility bills.\r\n\r\nThanks to your support, students like Carlos are discovering the power of science not just to learn, but to lead. 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Join the 150 supporters who believe in this school.
About this school
Acero Charter School - Victoria Soto High School is
an urban public school
in Chicago, Illinois that is part of Chicago Public School District 299.
It serves 564 students
in grades 9 - 12.
Its teachers have had 32 projects funded on DonorsChoose.
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. Each classroom request for funding was created by a classroom teacher and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
Acero Charter School - Victoria Soto High School Demographics
95%
of students receive free or reduced price lunch
Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more
Source: the National Center for Education Statistics
99%
of students are Black, Latino, Native
American, or Asian
Data about school demographics comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. The numbers in this chart may not add up to 100% because of limitations in the available data.
Acero Charter School - Victoria Soto High School Support on DonorsChoose
Last updated Dec 4, 2025
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.
Acero Charter School - Victoria Soto High School
$26,404
raised using DonorsChoose
32
projects
funded
13
teachers
funded
150
donors
2
projects for
technology
10
projects for
books
1
project
for
art supplies
Acero Charter School - Victoria Soto High School has received support from
87 individuals from Illinois and
63 individuals out-of-state.