Teacher Bio

Welcome to the 2023/2024 school year here at Trailside Point!

I am very excited to welcome all of you to Kindergarten!

My name is Mrs. Haley and this is my fifth year here at Trailside point. This January I will celebrate my 24th year in education! I started out in 2000 as a preschool teacher, teaching 2 year-old’s, then preschoolers for about 5 years. After this, I was the administrator for preschool program as well as a continuing education teacher for adults learning about working with small children. I did this for another 4 years

During this time I decided that I really wanted to be in the elementary classroom so I pursued a degree through NAU. I earned my Bachelor’s degree for Elementary Education in 2009 and worked for three years at Riverbend Prep, in Laveen, teaching 4th and 1st grades. Then in 2012, I moved schools and began teaching at Dos Rios Elementary for the 3rd grade and earned my first Masters in Early Childhood Education the same year. I taught 3rd grade for 5 years then transitioned to 2nd. While teaching 2nd grade I continued my education with a Masters in Early Childhood Special Education so that I could better understand how to help my learners. Two years ago, I taught special education full time while completing this degree; I graduated in May 2019 and it felt great! 

During my elementary teaching I have been awarded: Teacher of the Year from Westside Impact and the Copper Apple Award for Excellence in Mathematics from the Arizona Association of Teachers of Mathematics, I have written 2 grants for my previous school’s community learning program that have been awarded and gave the school about 1 million dollars for staff and resources. The reason I mention this is so that you, my families, can see that I am in it this for our kids and the community, I will do whatever it takes for our students to achieve and be successful!!

In my classroom we have a growth mindset. With this I will help students understand that people learn through our adventures, mistakes, and from each other. This mindset prepares everyone for their own personal level of success and leads to great academic achievement for our class as a whole. Students, families and myself will work as a team to ensure that we learn as much as we can and have fun doing it!

A little about myself- My family consists of 11 people, my dad-Leonard, my husband- Matt, my six kids that include 4 of my own and two spouses of theirs- Allissa and her husband Michael, Jacob and his wife Paulina, my sons Nathan and Ryan, and finally my two gorgeous grandbabies- Genevieve (6 years) and Leo (4 years). We are a big family and we have lots of fun times! I included pics on the My Family tab.

I enjoy movies, swimming, reading, crafting, and pretty much anything outdoors. I spend a lot of time with my family, especially my very cute grandbabies

Through all of my teaching and life experiences, I find that I am always learning new things and constantly improving.

I cannot wait to take this learning journey with you!

See you soon,

Mrs. Haley