Harding Middle School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on DonorsChoose

{"monthlySchoolDonationEnabled":false,"callToActionDisplayName":"Harding Middle School","outOfStateSupporters":39.2,"allowSchoolLevelGiving":true,"hasFundedProjects":true,"projectGratitudeData":[{"teacherId":3920985,"projectId":9473444,"letterContent":"I just want to thank you again so much for your generosity in making our school store a reality for our students! Often, our students do not have the opportunity to participate in fun and exciting school wide events due to budget cuts and lack of funding. However, thanks to the generosity of AMAZING people like you our students were able to experience a memorable fun filled school store that helped to build motivation among our students!\r\n\r\nLeading up to our school store, students had to earn scholar dollars by following our school wide SOAR expectations. Every day at our school we practice being Safe, On task, Accountable and Reflective. Our students were so motivated to earn their scholar dollars knowing that it all led to an exciting school store. I have never seen the students at my school work so hard and take such pride in their behavior and scholar dollars.\r\n\r\nI would just like to reiterate how beyond grateful I am for this amazing community of donors that have contributed to my classroom and school to help our amazing students! Our school is still buzzing with excitement from our school store and students are already asking if we can do it again! Thank you all again so much!!","fullyFundedDate":1753987702301,"projectUrl":"project/soaring-to-success-at-our-school-store/9473444/","projectTitle":"SOARing to Success at our School Store!","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Peruso","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/272x272/tp3920985_272x272.png?width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1522329950847","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/3920985"},{"teacherId":9665197,"projectId":8656123,"letterContent":"This is a little bit late, but as I reflect on my last year of teaching and look forward to another year of teaching, I wanted to express more gratitude for the donations I received last year. These basic supplies that your gifts funded were essential for creating an organized, clean, and productive environment last year. It may sound strange and small, but for the first few months, it was a relief for both myself and the students that I could always offer students an additional pencil when they lost theirs. Don't ask me how, but we did run through the over 1000 pencils supplied last year. My students loved the rug for the calm down corner (so much so that we had to have some serious conversations about when they could and couldn't use it). Having a clean classroom because I always had cleaning wipes at the ready made a noticeable, positive difference in students' mood and sense of being welcomed into class. Rather than worry about whether I needed to buy supply bins, I was able to focus on becoming a better teacher.\r\n\r\nIt's easy to look at education and think the issues we face are insurmountable. I certainly don't have all the solutions. But by contributing, you helped solve some of the simpler problems for my students.\r\n\r\nI do have another project this year for student-centered supplies, and this is part of why I've been reflecting on the support I recieved last year. If you'd like to contribute, that would be great, but know that a lot of what was funded from my initial project will continue to be used this year. Thank you for helping me get started.","fullyFundedDate":1724435473847,"projectUrl":"project/8th-grade-ela-essentials/8656123/","projectTitle":"8th Grade ELA Essentials!","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Carr","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp9665197_orig.png?crop=364,364,x0,y31&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1723736356940","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/mstcarr"},{"teacherId":9058565,"projectId":8830683,"letterContent":"The students, staff, and I at Harding Middle School can't express enough how much we appreciate your donation to our sports programs. Everything as arrived and been unpacked, and everyone was amazed by how much we received to support our student athletes. The other sports coaches and I are all very excited to get to use our new equipment to train for the upcoming sports seasons. \r\n\r\nFor soccer specifically, training with the new equipment means that in practices, every player on the team can have a ball to practice with, making it possible to broaden the variety of drills the team can do, specifically those that will help students improve on their ball control and footwork. Every student on the team will also have access to cleats, shin guards, socks, and water bottles to use during the season. As we train with the new equipment and play games, we will be sure to send more pictures your way (and I will ask the other coaches to do the same).","fullyFundedDate":1730132137079,"projectUrl":"project/support-our-middle-school-sports-teams/8830683/","projectTitle":"Support Our Middle School Sports Teams","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Abi","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp9058565_orig.jpg?crop=2115,2115,x200,y15&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1721046010564","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/ms-abi"},{"teacherId":9058565,"projectId":8491911,"letterContent":"Thank you so much for providing supplies for our classroom.The teachers on my team and I appreciated getting to restock our classroom with new supplies, and the students enjoyed getting to use these supplies during class as well. As soon as the new books were placed in the classroom library, students grew excited and eagerly borrowed to read (some of the new books generating a long waitlists). The new books helped ignite a joy for reading and trying out new books in our kids. \r\n\r\nThe books especially have had such a lasting impact on my students. Still, students are waiting their turn to borrow the books from your donation, but they also are building a habit of reading for joy outside of school. There is a lot of research that backs up the benefits of reading for students, and I've been seeing this first hand. Reading levels are increasing among my students, especially those that are consistently reading at home. The excitement from the new books has fostered a joy for reading among many of my students, especially those who didn't see themselves as readers at the beginning of the school year. Some of the books that were part of the donation were graphic novels, which the students have devoured. This is helping building their confidence as they try more challenging books. It's also great for my students that struggle to still feel a sense of accomplishment and growing as readers.","fullyFundedDate":1730925281303,"projectUrl":"project/new-school-year-new-classroom-supplies/8491911/","projectTitle":"New School Year, New Classroom Supplies","teacherDisplayName":"Ms. Abi","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp9058565_orig.jpg?crop=2115,2115,x200,y15&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1721046010564","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/ms-abi"}],"pageName":"schoolpage_90898","usesDonorsChoose":true,"infoPageType":"school","demographicsInfo":{"numStudents":570,"numTeachers":43,"percentFrplEligible":95,"percentAsian":1,"percentBlack":46,"percentWhite":6,"percentIndigenous":0,"percentLatinx":39,"showFreeAndReducedPriceLunchInfo":true,"showDemographicsInfo":true,"sourceTooltipString":"the National Center for Education Statistics","gradesServed":"6 - 8","studentTeacherRatio":"13.3:1","demographicsDataSource":"MDR School","equityFocus":true,"titleOne":true,"metroType":"URBAN","ncesMetroType":"CITY_LARGE"},"inStateSupporters":60.8,"schoolId":90898,"financialInfo":null,"twitterShareText":"Learn more about Harding Middle School on @DonorsChoose:","schoolName":"Harding Middle School","canonicalPageUrl":"schools/pennsylvania/philadelphia-city-school-district/harding-middle-school/90898"}

About this school

Harding Middle School is an urban public school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that is part of Philadelphia City School District. It serves 570 students in grades 6 - 8 with a student/teacher ratio of 13.3:1. Its teachers have had 103 projects funded on DonorsChoose.

Equity Focus School

Support towards this school will directly impact historically underfunded classrooms.

Public School

Title 1

Grades 6 - 8

570 Students

43 Teachers

2000 Wakeling St

Philadelphia, PA 19124 View local requests

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

Harding Middle School Teachers 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.

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Harding Middle School Demographics

95%

of students receive free or reduced price lunch

Source: the National Center for Education Statistics

86%

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.

Harding Middle School Support on DonorsChoose Last updated Dec 5, 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.