Profe. Farmer, Mrs. Hight, Mrs. Scott, and Ms. Rinne are a team focused on building a school community amongst their students through learning and experiences. Students not only learn through CUSD adopted curriculum, but hands-on activities that incorporate goal setting, team building and leadership skills. Students are immersed in learning through World Civilization Day, science camp, and My Perspective book studies. Other activities across the curriculum, such as science fair, quarterly STEAM projects, special creative projects, and an end-of-the-year capstone, allow students to transfer and apply learning from other subjects. As a sixth grader, students continue to have two classroom pathways: Conventional or Dual Language Immersion.   Students leave 6th grade with practices and principles that they will utilize in junior high, throughout their academic careers, and beyond.

Ms. Bevacco, Ms. Courson, Ms. Parrilla, Mrs. Apalategui and Mrs. Logston are a team that are focused on student success with responsibility, workmanship, study skills, and teamwork that prepares them for 6^th grade and beyond.  Our focus is on cross-curricular activities including book studies, Science Fair, poetry analysis, Wax Museum and technology-enhanced presentations and building a 5^th grade community.  Students leave 5^th grade with knowledge and application skills necessary to be successful in the coming years. 

Mrs. Schmerfeld, Mrs. Prater, Mrs. Laster, Mrs. Loera, and Mrs. Smedstad are the current 4^th grade teachers at CTA Liberty.  Together, they work diligently to build a close-knit community among their students with shared academic and cultural activities. Their students are learning through different styles and strategies of teaching using the CUSD adopted curriculum.  One of the units learned about in social studies is "American Indians" in which the children learn about concepts such as the rock cycle including weathering and erosion.  These learning experiences are enriched by a full day trip to Karchner Caverns in Benson, Arizona. Often considered the bridge between the lower grades and the upper grades, 4^th grade's end goal is that learners leave with a solid foundation that prepares them for their future endeavors.  

Third grade is the beginning of when students start reading to learn.  Each quarter our students complete a book study to further develop their reading development and understanding. Sra. Gabriela Mizzi and Mr. Robert Clayton are our DLI teachers.  They are excited to bridge the Spanish and English classrooms in Reading, Math, and Social Sciences. Our Social Science focuses on the study of the state of Arizona and exploring Light and Sound.  Mrs. Alison Marsh, Ms. Yolanda Jones, and Mrs. Stephanie Althoff are the teachers for the Conventional Side.

Our team includes veteran teachers with a wealth of knowledge to provide the best learning experience for our students.

Our second-grade team includes Mrs. Duffy, Mrs. Jauregui, Sra. Salazar, and Mrs. Santillan.   The goal of the second-grade teachers is to build successful relationships and foundations for all lifelong learners. We explore extreme weather, landforms, matter, citizenship, and cultures around the world. The second-grade students always look forward to extending their knowledge of cultures around the world through music at the Musical Instrument Museum. 

The first-grade team consists of Mrs. Martin, Mrs. DeLaPena, Mrs. Sherlock and Mrs. Ramsdell.  In first grade, we want our students to foster the love of learning.  We focus on building a solid foundation of reading, writing and math skills as well as independence, social awareness and responsibility.  In first grade, we like to make learning fun! Some of our memorable projects we love are our Pumpkin Book Reports in the fall and our Animal Habitat Project in the spring.  We go on field trips that are aligned to our learning objectives. 

Kindergarten is the foundation for a child’s educational experience. Mrs. Durazo and Mrs. Soyland are our Spanish Dual Immersion teachers, while Mrs. Butters, Mrs. Hull, and Mrs. Wilson are our conventional teachers.  We work hard to make each child’s first elementary school experience exciting and memorable.  We achieve this through building words with our sounds, choral reading, math games, and social science inquiry and exploration.  Our students participate in many fun activities throughout the year including our field trip to Schnepf’s Farm, the 100^th Day of School Celebration, Donuts with Grownups, Arizona Farm Bureau’s Literacy Program, and Read Across America. No matter which kindergarten teacher you end up with, you know you can trust us to provide your child with the very best experience here at CTA Liberty. 

Library - Mrs. Tollefson joined the CTA Liberty team as the Media Specialist/ Librarian in 2017-2018 after teaching at another Chandler school for 12 years.   Her passion for reading and helping students learn to read.  Mrs. Tollefson loves teaching all Eagles about the power of reading, being curious, planning super fun events like Read Across America, Books Fairs, World Read Aloud Day and hosting authors.  She loves guiding our Battle of the Books Club.  At home, she enjoys spending her time with her husband and three daughters. 

Technology – Mrs. Engstrom has been a teacher at CTA Liberty since 2017 in second and third grade. This school year she joined the specials team as the Technology teacher. She is very excited to work with all students on their tech skills. Mrs. Engstrom is passionate about having students learn how to use technology to further their learning experience.

Music - Dalene Husky has been the music teacher and choir director at CTA Liberty since 2008 and has loved every minute of it! She teaches almost every Liberty student and loves being able to share her love of music with them. Ms. Husky enjoys developing the students’ musical literacy skills while singing songs and playing singing games from various cultures, doing listening activities, movement activities, playing instruments, and more. One of the highlights of her Monday and Thursday afternoons is to direct the very talented Voices of Liberty. On Wednesday after school, she looks forward to teaching Liberty Orffestra, which include the xylophones and metallophones. Through choir, Orffestra, and general music, Ms. Husky looks forward to continuing the musical journey with the wonderful students here at CTA Liberty. 

P.E. - Since helping open the school back in 2002, Mr. Plamondon has enjoyed teaching PE for many Liberty families - several for over a decade!   

"Making learning and exercise fun… and changing their tomorrows," Mr. Plamondon uses various antics to motivate and reach each student where they are, encouraging all to do their very best in all activities. He has even been known to use “special guest teachers” as well. You might hear of some of his guest teachers on campus, like Darth Vader, “Kingpin” from Angry Birds, the “Food Ninja” (the Fruit Ninja’s brother), a Kung-Fu Master, or a Pizza Kitchen chef. When you do, be sure to ask your child what they have been doing in PE that week!

Speech - Amy Stone has been a Speech-Language Pathologist in CUSD since 2012 and joined CTA Liberty in 2022. She is an American Speech-Language-Hearing Association certified SLP and an Arizona Department of Health Services licensed SLP. Mrs. Stone enjoys helping students build their communication skills in all areas: articulation, expressive language, receptive language, fluency, voice, and social/pragmatic language. Between providing services, instructing quarterly lessons in the kindergarten classrooms, doing observations, writing paperwork, administering assessments, and collaborating with staff members and families, Mrs. Stone is busy around the CTA Liberty campus. In addition to working with the wonderful students, staff, and families at CTA Liberty, Mrs. Stone is the Lead SLP for CUSD.

School Psychologist:  Hello, my name is Michael Cervantes. I am excited to be a part of the gifted community within Chandler this school year. I was born and raised in northern Nevada. I moved to Arizona during my undergraduate career and later returned to the Phoenix area to complete my training in school psychology. I enjoy spending time with family and friends, working out, completing puzzles, and entertaining my two cats.

My Education and Professional Background

Upon graduating high school in Reno, I attended the University of Arizona in Tucson. I began working with kids during college as I worked for the Boys & Girls Club of America as a summer-camp coordinator. I also coached track & field at the high school and colligate level prior to becoming a school psychologist. Later, I transferred to the University of Nevada, Reno where I earned my bachelor’s degree in Research Psychology with a minor in Business Administration. I then attended the University of Nevada, Las Vegas where I earned my Education Specialist degree in School Psychology. During my graduate training, I worked for Clark County School District, The PRACTICE at UNLV, and the Educational Advocacy Clinic through UNLV’s Boyd School of Law. I moved to Chandler to complete my internship with CUSD and was later hired on as a psychologist. Upon completion of my graduate program, I received my certification from the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP).

My Educational Philosophy

My role as a school psychologist is to provide both direct and indirect school-based mental health services and promote mental health well-being for all students. One of my primary objectives as a school psychologist is to help provide expert insight to key stakeholders during the identification process for students with suspected disabilities and/or mental health challenges. I also strive to help families better understand their child’s strengths, how they can help their learning, and connect them with any community resources relevant to their child’s needs. The services I provide are in accordance with NASP’s 10-domain practice model and ethical guidelines. I very much enjoy working with gifted learners and understand the complexity of strengths and challenges that may arise with twice-exceptional students. I look forward to working with parents within the gifted community to better help support students’ learning, behavior, and mental health.