Monica Collins has been named the new principal of Pearson Ranch Middle School.

Collins has served as the assistant principal of C.D. Fulkes Middle School since 2020, and before that, served as the assistant principal at Grisham Middle School. During that time, she was part of the team that introduced restorative practices at Grisham, which led to a drop in discipline referrals by 70 percent over three years. Sharing these practices and results, she led presentations at the national level to fellow educators. She also led and guided the work of the Groundworks Vertical Learning community at C.D. Fulkes, which created behavior and social-emotional learning support for students during the COVID-19 pandemic. She has a total of 23 years of experience in education, with 18 of those being as a classroom teacher.

Collins is also a graduate of the District’s Team One Program, designed to provide aspiring principals with professional development relevant to the principal role.

“Pearson Ranch has a bold vision statement, ‘We Create the Change,’ Collins said. “I’m excited to partner with the Rattler community as we continue our journey to grow students who are empowered to use their academic and social-emotional learning to make an impact in their community and beyond.”

Collins earned her Master’s in Curriculum and Instruction from Texas State University and Bachelor’s in Philosophy and Government from the University of Texas at Austin.