Alta Vista Community Charter School

I am a curious person. Whether traveling the world with my husband and two children, designing a charter school, or researching how students learn, curiosity drives me to test the status quo, listen to others' ideas, and actively explore opportunities to ignite the learning process with innovation.  Curiosity led me from the legal profession to education when I was recruited to serve as the room mom for my daughter's Kindergarten class.  I earned a master's degree in cross-cultural education and was soon teaching students to wonder and question, guess and test assumptions, and transform their classrooms to labs of innovation where curiosity took them beyond the confines of their textbooks. I have since earned a doctoral degree in Education Leadership.

 As as school administrator, my leadership style embraces democracy in learning, exploration of knowledge in a student-centered model where individual learning styles, interests, and skills are essential elements of instructional and curriculum design. Alta Vista's vision to inspire confidence, engage critical thinking, and encourage collaboration in developing the life-long love of learning is a perfect match to my own educational philosophy. Since joining the team in the fall of 2016, it has been my joy and honor to work with this dynamic learning community, guiding the evolution of our historic school site to the forefront of educational excellence. 

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Hello families! My name is Heather Rahall and I am so excited to be part of the Alta Vista and community family! Some things I wholeheartedly enjoy are running, being outdoors, sunshine, warmth, the beach; I could go on and on. I earned a Bachelor's Degree in Child Development from San Diego State University along with a Master's Degree in Elementary Education. I have such a love for teaching while enriching the lives of all the wonderful children who are beginning their educational career. I cannot wait to share my love of learning with you all as we begin the next exciting school year!

Send an email to Mrs. Rahall

I am happy to be a teacher here at Alta Vista Community Charter School.  My two decades of teaching experience includes preschool all the way to 8th grade!  Originally from Los Altos, I taught in Cupertino for 9 years. After moving to Auburn, I taught at Bowman Charter School, Green Hills in Granite Bay, Sierra Hills and Weimar in the Placer Hills School District before finding a home at Alta Vista where I've taught since the fall of 2014.

When I'm not working or hanging out with my daughter, Hannah, I enjoy the outdoors: camping, kayaking, hiking, and riding my bike.  I stay active with the community through Hannah’s school, sports, dance school, Auburn Ski Club, and helping at school and community events.

 I bring positive, enthusiastic and creative energy to the classroom to meet the needs of all my students. Expectations are set high, but the support and tools are provided for all my students to be successful.  I believe in developing well-rounded students.  This means we work on academics, responsibility, social skills, and we also have fun in and out of the classroom.

Teaching is an absolute passion of mine, I believe I'm doing the job I was born to do! I grew up in Vacaville, California, and attended CSU-Sacramento where I earned a bachelor's degree in Liberal Studies in 2005, followed by a teaching credential with the Bilingual Multicultural Education in 2006.  I earned a second Master’s Degree in Curriculum and Instruction at Seattle Pacific University in 2013.

I moved to Washington in 2006 and taught in Vancouver for ten years. I met my husband in 2012 and we were married in 2013. A few years later, we moved back to California and I joined the Alta Vista teaching team. I’ve taught students in Kindergarten, 2nd, 3rd, 5th Grade.  Additionally, I have been an ELL (English Language Learner) Coordinator. I  love teaching and feel so privileged to be able to do what I love each and every day. It is my mission to instill a love of learning in all my students as well as develop them into responsible and caring citizens. 

I started my learning adventure at Alta Vista Elementary School in the fall of 2015. I completed my undergraduate degree in Liberal Studies at California State University Sacramento continuing on to receive my Multi-Subject Teaching Credential at CSUS in 2006, when I began the exciting life of a teacher. I spent the last eight years at the California Montessori Project – American River Campus in Fair Oaks. As a skilled Montessori educator, I have a lot of experience teaching multi-age classrooms of students and challenging each of my students on an individual basis. 
I believe in the power of students. Given the tools to develop responsibility and self-control, there is almost nothing they cannot achieve or learn. I seek to empower each one of my students by providing them with a safe, well-structured learning environment where they are guided to be productive, independent learners. These are not easy skills to teach or learn, but ones which can be applied to learning in any subject area. Students who successfully practice productive, independent learning learn more deeply, because of the ownership they feel for what they have learned. It is my hope that my students go on to practice the skills I teach them long after they have left my classroom.
I live in Auburn with my wife and our two children. My wife runs an animal-based childcare and preschool in our home. On our property, we have rabbits, mini horses, mini donkeys, goats, ducks, geese, dogs, cats, geckos, turtles, and fish that the children interact with and help take care of. As a family, we are dedicated to education and serving the students in our community! 

I've been teaching since 2010 and joined Alta Vista as its third grade teacher in the fall of 2015. In 2019, I moved to the fifth grade. Teaching gives me the opportunity to facilitate learning in a student centered, project-based learning environment. I teach lessons which place strong emphasis on cross curricular learning activities. I earned a Liberal Studies Bachelor's degree from California State University, Sacramento, and have held a multiple-subject teaching credential since 2007, with supplemental authorizations in Science, English, and Social Studies.  I love the small community feel of our school and community, leading me to purchase a house in Auburn.  My favorite part of living in the community where I teach is running into my students and their families outside of school.  See you on campus!