Heidi Aranda
Principal | email

As a child, I was taught to love learning and exploring the world by my parent and grandparents. The best childhood memories I have were ones where I was exploring nature with people I loved, friends, cousins, siblings, parents and grandparents. I was born in Tucson and graduated from Cholla High School. I attended Pima and the University of Arizona where I received my Bachelors degree as a Bilingual Elementary Teacher. I taught as a bilingual teacher at Roberts Elementary. I then joined a group of teachers in the Math and Science Project and supported other teachers through professional development opportunities. I became very interested in working with schools and decided to pursue a Masters degree and received my Masters in Educational Leadership from Northern Arizona University. I had the opportunity to also work at Ochoa and Maldonado Elementary as a School Improvement Facilitator and with Mr. Benton, Assistant Superintendent, in the capacity of Curriculum Specialist and Assistant Principal at Reynolds Elementary.

In August of 2003, I was honored to be offered the principalship at Ochoa Elementary. This is my 9th year at Ochoa as principal. Each day I feel privileged to be working with the children, families and staff at Ochoa. There have been many learning experiences throughout the years that have challenged and enriched my professional experience. As I reflect upon where we are today, I could never have imagined it. Our journey to become a Reggio Inspired Birth through 5th grade school has been energizing. I believe that the transformation we are seeing happen before our eyes will provide a learning experience for children, families and staff that will transform us forever. I would like to close with a quote from a Conference I attended this summer that I connected with: