Celie Downey-Foye was born and raised in Cheyenne, Wyoming. She attended Laramie County Community College in Cheyenne for two years before moving to Scottsdale, Arizona with her parents and future husband. Mrs. Downey-Foye completed her Bachelor’s Degree in Special Education at Arizona State University.  She student taught in Scottsdale, Arizona and received a teaching position for the remainder of that school year with the Scottsdale Unified School District. Mrs. Downey-Foye is certified to teach special education (K-12), as well as, elementary education (K-6).

Mrs. Downey-Foye and her husband moved to Casa Grande, Arizona in 1997 to return to the small-town roots they had grown up in living in Wyoming. Mrs. Downey-Foye was thrilled to accept a teaching position with the Casa Grande Elementary School District at Casa Grande Junior High School, now Casa Grande Middle School, where she was a special education teacher for three years. During this time, she completed her Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership. Along with teaching and learning, she coached the pom squad, coached girls’ basketball, directed the plays and musicals, and coached the cheer squad.

Mrs. Downey-Foye was one of the first two teachers hired into the new TOA (teacher-on-assignment) positions in 2000. She served as an assistant to the principals at Saguaro and Palo Verde schools for three years. In 2003, she was chosen as the principal of Saguaro Elementary School following Mr. Norm Sam’s retirement and has proudly served as the principal for 20 years before moving to Mesquite Elementary School. She has previously taught for both Central Arizona College and NAU as adjunct faculty. In 2009 and 2010, Mrs. Downey-Foye was named a semi-finalist in the RODEL Exemplary Principal Initiative.

Mrs. Downey-Foye and her husband are the proud parents of a daughter and son. Their daughter attends Arizona State University: Barrett, The Honors College studying Criminal Justice on the Pre-Law track. Their son attends COIL. Mrs. Downey-Foye and her husband enjoy spending time with their children at home and traveling, as time allows. Raising children is a rewarding and inspiring experience that happily consumes most of their free moments.

Mrs. Downey-Foye feels privileged and grateful to work in the most important profession in the world.  Everything begins with a teacher.  She is honored to be a member of the Mesquite Family and with the caliber of teachers and staff who populate the classrooms and hallways of Mesquite Elementary School. Mesquite is truly a family and would not be complete without every staff member, student, and parent.

Mrs. Rodriguez was born in Bellflower, California. She was raised in the Los Angeles area until the age of nine when her family moved to San Diego. Mrs. Rodriguez attended San Diego State University and received her bachelor's degree in Liberal Studies in 2004. She taught Kindergarten for 1 year at Las Palmas Elementary in National City, California. Mrs. Rodriguez and her husband welcomed their daughter on September 8, 2005. 

In 2007, Mrs. Rodriguez and her husband decided to move to Arizona. Mrs. Rodriguez began teaching 3rd grade at Cholla Elementary, then transitioned to being a reading interventionist at Evergreen (now COIL) Elementary. Mid-year, Saguaro Elementary needed a 4th grade EL teacher and Mrs. Rodriguez decided to jump back into the classroom. During her time at Saguaro, she taught 4th grade for 9 years. Mrs. Rodriguez and her husband welcomed their son on August 2, 2013. While at Saguaro, she decided to leave the classroom to become the district's first behavior interventionist, which she did for 4 years, then served as TOA for 1 year. After 14 years at Saguaro, she made the move to Mesquite with her principal. During this time she completed her Master's Degree in Educational Leadership from GCU (October 2023).   

Mrs. Rodriguez has a son attending COIL and a daughter attending ASU. She enjoys spending time with her family and traveling. Visiting the zoo is one of her favorite hobbies, as she makes it a point to visit other zoos in all the cities she visits. 

Mrs. Rodriguez feels honored to serve the Mesquite community. She focuses on establishing positive relationships with each student and believes in the importance of forming strong bonds with families. She cannot wait to continue helping all of our Mesquite Roadrunners learn and grow, and see all the wonderful things they will achieve!