Welcome Sixth Grade! 

I’m Mrs. Ritenhouse, English Language Arts/Social Studies teacher extraordinaire. I have been a teacher for 19 years. It is a second career after working for newspapers. I was writing a story about California’s teacher shortage and the rumor that “anyone” could get a job. I got an offer and thought, “Why not?” I worked at a middle school in Montclair, CA while I got my degree and then returned to Reno where I’ve worked in sixth grade at Hunsberger for the last 15 years.   

I’m a product of the WCSD system having attended Grace Warner, Lenz, Pine and Wooster and from there I went to the University of Oregon—Go Ducks! I attended the University of Redlands for my teaching credential. I’m a huge Ducks fan – I figure I sat through the bad years, so I’ve earned the glory of their recent success. I was the Duck, Puddles, for five minutes when I made it as a finalist for mascot, but that claim to fame really hasn’t gotten me far.  

I roamed the country before learning there’s no place like home, so I returned to Reno with my husband. We have two Herz students – a sixth grader and eighth grader – and a golden retriever named Abraham Lincoln.