First Day of School Reminders

• Device Pick-Up 💻
• AOI Form 🚨
• Picture Day 📷
• K-8 Supply Lists 📚
• K-8 Teacher Welcomes👋
• 9-12 Information 🎒

Mark your calendars for the first day of the 2024-2025 school year, which begins August 1, 2024. We are excited to welcome back our learners! Please see below for important information about Meet the Teacher Night and Aspire teachers!

If your student is in need of a school Chromebook, one can be checked out during Meet the Teacher night. If you are unable to attend Meet the Teacher night, devices and materials can be picked up M-F 8:00am-4:00pm at the Innovation Center.

Attention all Parents/Guardians: The AOI form below needs to be signed and returned back to Aspire by Wednesday, August 21st.

AOI Commitment Form: (Arizona Online Instructional Commitment) Every full-time student in the state of Arizona is required to have this completed in order to stay online. This is a State requirement that needs to be completed every year. To complete - please click on this link below or scan the QR code.

Students, come to Meet the Teacher Night ready for Pictures! Lifetouch will be on site for all K-12 students to get their Yearbook picture taken and receive an Aspire Student ID.

LifeTouch is unable to offer picture retakes. The only opportunity to have your student(s) picture taken and receive an ID is on Meet the Teacher night on Tuesday, July 30th, from 5:00pm-7:00pm.

K-3rd Grade | Mrs. Robidoux

WELCOME to Grades K-3 at Aspire, Deer Valley’s Online Learning Academy! My name is Mrs. Robidoux (robe-uh-dough) and I am excited to be your child’s teacher.

Thank you for trusting your child to me. I promise to do my best every day and work hand in hand with you this year to help your child grow. I absolutely love teaching and look forward to a wonderful year together with your family.

My goal is to create an online learning environment where all students feel valued and are able to take charge of their learning in meaningful ways.

This is my 27th year in education. I have taught Reading, Kindergarten, First Grade, Second Grade, and Fifth Grade.

I graduated from Northeastern State University (Tahlequah, Oklahoma) and earned my Bachelor of Science Degree with an emphasis in Early Childhood Education in December of 1995. I earned my Masters of Education in Elementary Education from Northern Arizona University (Flagstaff, Arizona) in December 2002. I have my Early Childhood Birth-Age 8 Endorsement, Reading Specialist K-12 Endorsement, Gifted K-12 Endorsement, and Structured English Immersion K-12 Endorsement

4th/5th Grade | Mrs. Costello

Hi Families,

Welcome to Aspire 4th and 5th grade! I am Mrs. Cindy Costello and I am so excited to be your fourth and fifth grade teacher. In 1986, I began my teaching career in 3rd and 4th grades in CA, then lived on Maui, Hawaii for 12 years teaching 3rd grade. My family moved to Arizona in 2002 and I started in DVUSD in 2003, helping open TE(4th gr), then DC(3rd, 4th, 5th ELA), after that I was at SSR (4th and 6th ELA) and in recent years I have been at LB (3rd and 2nd). I have 37 years in education in grades 1-6 and have been with Aspire since the start.

This year in ELA, we will work on three genres: narrative, informational- expository, and persuasive. In math we work heavily on multiplication and division building a foundational base with combining equal groups and sharing equal groups. We also cover measurement with addition and subtraction, fractions, decimals, data, geometry and measurement. In social studies, 4th grade focuses on Early America- explorers and early colonies, while 5th grade focuses on US History and the development of our country. In science, we will work on observing, designing testable questions and investigating within our units.

For our transition and all throughout this year, I am here to help my students and families. You can reach out via Canvas Inbox or email. Please know that I will do my very best to get right back to you and help in any way.

Aspire provides great flexibility to families. I offer many synchronous opportunities as Zooms are encouraged. I am very excited to continue facilitating your child’s 4th and 5th grade learning journey. I look forward to working closely with students and families in this learning adventure.

Excited to meet new students and continue on our learning journey as we loop up together,

Mrs. Cindy Costello

Grade 4 and 5 Aspire

6th-8th Grade ELA | Ms. Etzel

Hello everyone! My name is Ms. Etzel and I am very excited to continue teaching middle school English Language Arts at Aspire this year. This is my 14th year teaching ELA in DVUSD. Prior to joining Aspire, I taught at Vista Peak Alternative School and Barry Goldwater High School gaining experience in grades 7th-12th. I grew up in Salt Lake City, Utah and then attended Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff. I look forward to working together and getting to know you all as we make our way through 6th, 7th, and 8th grade ELA!

6th-8th Grade Math | Mrs. Utter

My name is Mrs. Utter and I will be teaching 6th-8th grade math at Aspire this year. I am so excited to be part of the Aspire family again this year as we continue to grow our school! For the last seven years I have been teaching 7th - 12th grade math in DVUSD, both in person and online.

A little about me… I am an Arizona native and have no plans of ever leaving! I’m a graduate of the Deer Valley District, my 4 kids attend school in the district, and my husband is an administrator in the district. After high school I decided college wasn’t for me right then, so I shipped off to boot camp! After my husband and I got out of the Marine Corps we settled back down in Glendale. I worked for many years in Retail Management as well as in the corporate world. I realized my dream was to teach math so I went back to school. I got my Associate's Degree from Glendale Community College and my Bachelors’ Degree from ASU. Go Devils!

I like to spend my time relaxing with those I love. Family is very important to me. When I am not teaching you can find me involved in one of my 4 kids various activities, hanging out with my many extended family members, or working on some type of DIY project.

Why do I teach math? I truly believe that every student can succeed in math! I have seen many people change their dream career path simply because they were scared of the math involved. My goal is to help every student understand that they do not have to be a math expert, they don’t even have to like math, they just can’t be scared of it! Succeeding in math is not about memorizing steps or equations, it’s about finding a way to approach a problem and using your unique skills to come up with a solution. Just like in life!

I’m very much looking forward to an Awesome year together!

6th-8th Grade Science | Mrs. Keene

Greetings! I am Mrs. Oswald-Keene and I will be the Middle School Science and 7th grade Exploratories teacher this year.

A little bit about me: I hold a Business Degree in Finance from The University of Texas at San Antonio, A Post Bac Teaching Certificate from Arizona State University, A Master’s Degree in Elementary Education from Arizona State University and a Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership and Policies Studies from The University of Texas at Arlington. I worked for the Treasury Department for 5 years and after moving to Arizona, decided to change careers. I had a fabulous group of teachers there to support me in Middle School and I couldn’t think of anything that I wanted to do more, make a similar difference in the lives of young people. This will be my 31st year in Deer Valley, and I hope that. I have honored my former teachers, by making a difference.

I hold teaching certifications in Elementary Education and Secondary Education. I am highly qualified and certified to teach Science, Language Arts, Social Studies, Middle School Math, and Business. I also hold Endorsements in Computer Science, Middle Grades, Math Specialist and Reading Specialist.

I am looking forward to spending the coming year with you and your family on this learning adventure.

I hold teaching certificates in Elementary Education and Secondary Education with Highly Qualified in Science, Language Arts, Social Studies, Middle School Math, and Business. I also have a Middle School endorsement; Computer Science endorsement; Math Specialist Endorsement and Reading Specialist Endorsement. I am highly qualified in Science, Social Studies, Language Arts, and Middle Grades Math. In addition, have a second Master's Degree in Educational Leadership and Policies Studies through the University of Texas at Arlington. My degree was conferred in May 2012 and I received my state Principal Certificate in August 2012. I have been teaching 7th grade for the past 29 years here in DVUSD. I was at Terramar and was one of the original staff members when the campus opened in 2003, as well as opening Desert Mountain back in 1993. I joined DVOA during 2020-2021 school year and am very happy to now be part of Aspire. I will be teaching both 7th and 8th grade Science again this year.

I find it hard to say no to anything that the kids need. For that reason, I have always been involved with school activities, if the kids need me, I'm there to advocate for them. When I'm not here with your kids, I spend time reading; knitting and crocheting; trying to learn new crafts, and spending time with my family. I recently bought a Cricut Maker and Cricut Joy and am hopeful that I can learn to use them. My son Ian, who attended DVUSD schools PK-8, is at Glendale Community College studying Business and working for DVUSD full time and my husband, Rich, retired from DVUSD after teaching Social Studies for 22 years.

If you'd like to talk, or find out more about what's going on in class in order to help your child, please feel free to contact me:

6th-8th Grade Social Studies | Mrs. Thomas

My name is Mrs. Thomas and I am excited to teach Middle School Social Studies at Aspire. I was born and raised in Texas and I am a Texas A & M graduate. I have been teaching for over 30 years. This will be my 7th year with the Deer Valley Unified School District. I am certified and highly qualified to teach science, social studies, History, and physical education. Prior to moving to Arizona, I taught in Arkansas, Tennessee and Texas. I am looking forward to an awesome year!

Music | Mr. Stanford

Hello! I'm Mr. Stanford. I graduated from Northern Arizona University (NAU) in December 2013 with a Bachelor's degree in Music Education, and I've been teaching for 10 1/2 years.

I currently teach General Music to grades K-8, Guitar 1 & 2/Music Theory 1 & 2/Music Humanities to grades 9-12, and a choir club to grades 4-12 at Aspire Academy Online which meets one time per week at the Innovation Center. I started teaching at Aspire in August 2022, so this is my third year at Aspire. Prior to Aspire Academy Online, I taught choir/general music/guitar at Gavilan Peak School from August 2020 to May 2022, band/choir/general music at New River School from August 2016 to May 2020, and band/choir/general music at Bellair Elementary (before it was a Traditional School) from August 2015 to May 2016. All of these schools are in the Deer Valley Unified School District. I also taught orchestra/choir/piano/guitar/general music at Desert Foothills Junior High in the Washington Elementary School District from January 2014 to May 2015. I did my student-teaching experience at both Boulder Creek High School and Anthem Elementary in the fall of 2013 right before I graduated from college.

I worked at the Curry Summer Music Camp at NAU for three years as a counselor in the summers of 2010 through 2012, followed by two years as the Assistant Director of Camp Academics in the summers of 2013 through 2014. In college, I was a part of many musical ensembles, including Marching Band, Symphonic Band, Wind Symphony, Orchestra, Brass Choir, Brass Quintet, Trumpet Ensemble, and Jazz Ensemble. My primary instrument in college was the trumpet, although I did have to learn the most common band and string instruments, percussion, and piano in order to graduate with my degree (I'm better at some instruments than others). I was a member of the Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Music Fraternity at NAU, including being its Music Director for one year, while also performing and singing for public audiences and in retirement homes.

My wife also teaches in DVUSD at Gavilan Peak School as the band director. I grew up in and attended schools in this district as a child while my mother was a teacher in the district, so it really feels like my home. The schools I attended in DVUSD as a child were Mirage Elementary School, Desert Sky Middle School, and Deer Valley High School.

My wife and I have a son who is 4 years old and a daughter who is 1 year old. I'm a huge baseball fan and loyal to the Arizona Diamondbacks, as well as the other professional sports teams in Arizona (mostly). When I'm not teaching music, I enjoy spending time with my family, hiking, bike-riding, swimming, and playing with our two cats and two dogs.

Music is my number one passion, which is why I decided to become a music teacher in the first place. It is my hope that I can help your child gain a higher level of understanding of music, as well as help them become well-rounded individuals through many different kinds of musical experiences. Most importantly, I want your child to have fun with their learning in music class as they grow through and master the different music standards.

P.E | Mrs. Rutan

Dear Parents and Guardians,

I hope this letter finds you well and filled with anticipation for the upcoming school year. As we gear up for another exciting academic journey, I am delighted to introduce myself. My name is Rachel Rutan, and I am thrilled to be teaching K-8th grade Physical Education, along with 9th-12th grade Earth Science and Environmental Science this year. I am looking forward to getting to know each of you and working together to support your child's physical, emotional, and academic growth. Let's make this year one filled with fun and lots of learning!

Warm regards,

Rachel Rutan

Art | Mrs. G

My name is Camille Obert-Goralski - call me Ms. G. I am the K8 art teacher for Aspire Online Academy. I have been teaching in Deer Valley for 18 years. Before that was a computer trainer and website designer.

I have my B.A in Communications with a double minor in Visual Arts and Women's Studies. I have my M.A. Ed. in Secondary Education with a focus on Technology. I am a highly qualified K12 teacher in visual arts.

I am also a a Certified Zentangle Teacher (CZT) which is a meditative drawing method used for relaxation and is one of my favorite tools for a brain break

Reading Specialist | Mrs. Castellanos

Hello!

Welcome to the 2024-2025 school year at Aspire! I am Dawn Castellanos, Aspire's Reading Specialist and Math Interventionist. I will be instructing all k-3 children and some of our middle school students as well. I have 15 years of teaching experience and have a passion for teaching reading to our youngest learners. I look forward to meeting many of you this year and welcome any questions I can assist you with at any time!

9th-12th grade students are invited to Meet the Teacher Night on July 30th!

9th-12th grade Teachers will be present and will share information on classes, dual enrollment, AP courses, and tips for our high-school online learner's success!

Sessions will run every 30 minutes beginning at 5pm! We look forward to seeing our online learners and parents/families!

Email: aspire@dvusd.org
Website: https://www.dvusd.org/Page/70799
Location: 20402 North 15th Avenue, Phoenix, AZ, USA
Phone: (623) 445-4992