About Me:
Hi and welcome to 3rd grade.  My name is Rachelle Ferris. I was born in Tucson but grew up in Las Vegas.  After I graduated high school, I went to Utah for college, where I met my husband.  We moved back to Tucson to raise our family. Outside of school, I still love learning new things by visiting zoos, and museums and having cultural experiences with my family.  One of my favorite things is trying out new yummy restaurants. I love exercising and the outdoors. I love to swim, play soccer, basketball, hiking, running, doing yoga and biking to name a few.  The past few years I have ridden in El Tour de Tucson with my dad.

Defining Moment in Education:
When I was in 3rd grade I was inspired by Mrs. Rochelle and I decided I wanted to be a teacher. When the I can see a student engaging in a topic and taking charge of their learning by getting excited or by making connections it sends shivers up my spine.
My defining moments in education happen when students take initiative in their learning and explore a topic they are passionate about.  As I teach I hope to create a spark that the students will fan into a flame and then they will have a torch to light their way on their educational journey.

Core Educational Belief:

During my 12 years as an educator, I have been able to implement my passion for teaching students literacy, while working in the areas of Math, Science, Social Studies and Technology in many different roles. While pursuing my Masters Degree, I began to realize my love for Project Based Learning and Cross-Curricular methods of incorporating reading into all of the content areas. I find great satisfaction in engaging students with tasks where they are required to delve deep and apply higher level thinking strategies while solving real world problems and connecting all the subjects.  My background in technology has been able to be utilized daily in all areas that I teach. I am always refining my craft and implementing new ideas I learn in professional development and research I do on my own. I feel I am able to reach all learners and give them a chance to engage in learning, ask questions and further their knowledge.

Professional Association Memberships

Arizona Science Teacher Association Member

National Science Teacher Association Member

National Geographic Certified Educator

Civil Air Patrol - Aerospace Education Member

Space Foundation Liaison 

Oro Valley Amateur Radio Club Member

National Honor Society Advisor

Girls Who Code Facilitator

SoundTrap Certified Educator

Current Responsibilities 

 STEM night organizer, Hour of Code Organizer, Robotics and Programming club advisor, Girls who Code advisor, 

Prior Experience:

3rd grade teacher, Amphitheater Public Schools: Donaldson Elementary, Innovation Academy ;2016-Current

Private Reading Tutor 2014-2016

Reading Room coordinator, Amphitheater Public Schools; Oro Valley, AZ — 2012-2014

4th Grade teacher,Painted Sky Elementary; Oro Valley, AZ — 2011-2012

2nd Grade Teacher, Alpine School District; Lehi, UT — 2004-2006

Current Specialized Trainings/Professional Development 


Gifted Endorsement

Reading Endorsement

National Geographic Certified Educator

Space Foundation: Space Across the Curriculum 2020

SEI Endorsement

 Balanced Literacy

SARSEF judge 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023

Lucy Caulkins: Writers Workshop

 EiE- Engineering is Elementary

Smithsonian Institute

Webb DOK

Project Lead the Way

 Effective Teaching Conference

The STEMAZing Project 

AZ Wins Co-Teaching Conference

“Level Up” Conference 

Google Apps (Sheets, Docs, Slides, Forms, Classroom)

Digital Projects for All Students with Google Tools

Google Docs for Differentiated, Collaborative Reading

ASTA- Stability and Change Symposium

PBL World 2021

SoundTrap Certified Educator

The STEMAZing Project : Excavating Evidence: If Rocks Could Talk, Make it Take it, Games for STEM, Meet Edison, Paper Circuits, To Windfinity and Beyond. 

Awards and Recognitions

2021 Arizona Science Elementary Teacher of the Year

2021 Raytheon Leaders in Education

Sept 2021 Amphitheater Distinguished Service Award

Amphi Foundation Grant 2021

STEMCan Grant 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020

Golden Scorpion Award 2018

1st Place Sarsef Grand award 2019, 2020, 2021

SARSEF school of the year 2020

Cognia STEM certified 2020

ITEAA School of Excellence 2022, 2023

“Best Elementary School in Oro Valley.” 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022