April 5 – Paola Arroyo-Forteza
Paola Arroyo-Forteza, a bilingual life skills teacher at Rosedale School, has a passion for helping others and a desire to positively impact the lives of children. She started her career at Jaime Pardon Elementary as an early childhood Special Education Teacher for students ages 3-6, with special needs.
After five years at Pardon, she completed her master’s degree in special education and continued her teaching career at Thomas G. Harris Elementary School as a Bilingual Life Skills Teacher. There she continued to grow as an educator working to ensure her students received everything they needed to develop their full potential.
In 2025, Paola secured her dream job as a Bilingual Life Skills Teacher at the Rosedale School, the only Austin I.S.D. school solely dedicated to serving students ages 3-22 with severe special needs. In the same year, she was also selected as Austin I.S.D.’s Elementary Teacher of the Year.
Paola looks forward to honoring Rosedale School’s mission to support the unique needs of its students and to provide a positive environment that prepares students to live, work and enjoy life in the community.