Rosa Baly is the new ELD teacher here at Selma High School in room 401. Although starting her first year here at Selma High, Baly has worked at the district for a total of 30 years as both a teacher and administrator. Gaining her credentials from Fresno State, Mrs. Baly has been working since 1995 in schools from within the city, such as Eric White and Wilson, to the outskirts of Selma like Terry Elementary.
Throughout her education career, Mrs. Baly has been passionate about working with students and learning more about them. It was for this reason that she was keen to be at Selma High when the previous ELD teacher, Mrs. Montoya, retired last year.
“I love… working with English Language learners, [especially newcomers]. I want to know and learn about them,” expressed Mrs. Baly.
Working alongside her bilingual instructional aides (Mrs. Alvarado, Mrs. Fabela, and Ms. Villaseñor), Mrs. Baly developed a learning environment that ELD students could thrive in.
“I’ve worked at so many schools with so many people. But… ultimately, the most important thing that I’ve learned is to understand that students come to us to give us 100%,” said Mrs. Baly.
For her first year teaching ELD, she’s working towards having all her students pass the English Language Proficiency Assessment for California (ELPAC) with a score of 4. Every year, new students whose household speaks a language other than English take this test. It determines whether a student needs extra support learning English by being placed in an ELD program.
“I want all students to hit that level four, because then we can redesignate them and they’re considered fluent in English,” expressed Mrs. Baly.
Mrs. Baly’s hard work as both a teacher and administrator has been recognized by many. In Selma High, students have nominated her for “SHS Staff of the Week” by her 6th week on September 15, 2025. As principal for Terry Elementary, she was selected as one of three employees of the year by the Selma Unified in 2012. However, Baly would face a personal health issue in the following years.
In 2021, while working at Terry, Mrs. Baly was diagnosed with salivary gland cancer. Feeling a sharp pain in her jaw, she went to the doctor, where she had three separate biopsies done—all three came out negative. However, under the doctor’s recommendation, Mrs. Baly chose to remove the mass which was causing her extreme pain. That was when they discovered it was cancerous. As a result, she went through chemo and radiation treatment. Once the doctor removed the tumor from her jaw, it caused facial paralysis.
“I don’t need to be perfect,” stated Mrs. Baly. “That has been something that we as humans think. ‘Oh, that’s not gonna happen to me. Oh, I’m healthy.’” But, she says, it can happen to anybody.
She’s grateful and thankful that she made a full recovery.
With a family of three daughters who have all already begun to start their own separate lives, the youngest of the three, Mia, is still a senior in Clovis High School. With her daughters set, Mrs. Baly is looking forward to what she’ll do once she retires. She’s planning to spend the rest of her retirement with her husband at Saint Martin Island which is in the Caribbean by Puerto Rico.
