World Languages

Ms. Anne Damanti

Bonjour, Hola,

I teach all French classes and Spanish 1A.

You can find information about the curriculum, homework calendar, and helpful links on my school webpage.

Ms. Kay Kaul

I grew up in a small town (680 people) in North Dakota, where both of my parents were teachers. I attended the University of North Dakota (big hockey fan), where I earned my bachelor’s degree in Spanish and Secondary Education. I studied abroad in Madrid, Spain, where I fell in love with travel, language, and culture while living with a Spanish family and attending University. I earned my master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction from Colorado Christian University. I am married and have one son who is in flight school studying to be a commercial pilot. I have been teaching middle school since 2001 and joined the RHMS family in 2004. I love to travel and open the door for my students to the world through education.

You can email me at: kay.kaul@dcsdk12.org  I will check my email during school hours.  If you send an email after school hours, I likely will not read or respond to your email until the next school day.

Our daily classroom agenda will be posted on Google Classroom with the necessary links 

 

Ms. Rose Dominguez

¡Hola! I'm Rose Dominguez-Haak, and it is truly a pleasure to teach Spanish at Rocky Heights Middle School.

I was born in New York and spent my early years moving between the U.S. and Spain, eventually settling in New Jersey from 4th grade through college. After graduating, I moved to Southern California where I met my husband, had my three sons, and earned my master’s degree. I taught high school Spanish in California for 12 years before relocating to Colorado in 2000.

I began teaching in Douglas County in 2008 at Redstone Elementary and joined the RHMS team in 2009. Since then, I’ve had the opportunity to teach all levels of Spanish offered here at Rocky Heights with a strong emphasis on Spanish 1A and Spanish 2.

Outside the classroom, I enjoy spending time with my family, creating art, and traveling. One of the highlights of my teaching career has been leading student trips abroad. I’ve had the joy of taking students and their families to England, France, Italy, and Spain, and I look forward to planning more international adventures in the future.

The best way to reach me is by email at rdominguezhaak@dcsdk12.org. I do my best to check email during my planning time, and you can expect a response within 24 hours on school days.

Each Friday afternoon, I send out a brief newsletter to keep families informed about what we’re covering in class, upcoming assessments, and other helpful information.

We use Google Classroom for all class-related content. There, you’ll find the daily agenda, assessment outlines, study resources and games, as well as homework assignments. If your child is absent, Google Classroom is the best place to find any missed material.  All material will be posted by the end of the day.

 

Ms. Carrie Ann Schmitz

I have been teaching since 2000 and have been at Rocky Heights since 2017. I am married to Stephen (also a teacher at RHMS), and we have two children, Tanner and Taylor. Tanner graduated from GCU with a degree in forensics and minor in Spanish and has his MA in psychology from there as well. He works at CU Anschutz as a research psychologist using his Spanish on a daily basis. Our daughter, Taylor is a junior at CMU in Grand Junction studying psychology and working in the peer counseling office. 

I am a Colorado native and attended Cornell College in Iowa. I studied abroad in Bolivia during my time there and absolutely loved it! After graduating from Cornell, I lived in Bolivia for 2 years, teaching English at a private school. After returning to the US, I went back to school at UNC to get my teaching certificate and then my Master’s degree. I began my teaching career at Trailblazer Elementary, teaching 3rd grade. Our family moved to Costa Rica in 2012. Mr. Schmitz and I taught English at private schools there for a year, and when we returned, I began teaching Spanish in Roxborough. In 2017, I finally made the move to middle school and truly feel like this was where I was always meant to be. 

My teaching philosophy centers on creating a fun and supportive classroom environment where students feel empowered to take risks and engage with the material. In my class, mistakes are expected, mistakes are respected. I believe they are a natural and essential part of the learning process. I use a communicative approach, focusing on real-world conversations and practical application to make the Spanish language accessible and exciting. My goal is to foster a love for language and culture, encouraging students to become confident and curious global citizens.

We will be using Google Classroom this year in class. I will post the daily slides here. Students will find what we did during class and their homework on these slides. If absent, students should check the slides each day and complete homework they missed. 

I will send out newsletters through IC each Thursday afternoon. These will include information for both my Spanish 1A and Spanish 1B classes, so please be sure to look at the correct section to find out what we are doing in class and information about upcoming quizzes/tests.

The best way to contact me is through email at ceschmitz@dcsdk12.org. I will check email periodically during school hours. If you send an email after school hours, I likely will not read or respond to your email until the next school day.

 

Additional Links and Resources:

• Spanish 1A Essential Questions/Topics
• Spanish 1B Essential Questions/Topics
• Vocabulary Lists by Chapter for Spanish 1A and 1B