Ryan Mullins currently serves as the headmaster of Great Hearts Prairie View.  Located in northern Tarrant County, Great Hearts Prairie View is the fourth Great Hearts Academy in North Texas.  As the founding headmaster, Mr. Mullins leads the development and launch of the Prairie View campus.

Previously, Mr. Mullins served at Claremore Christian School for 20 years. He was a teaching head of school and was the head football coach for 15 years.

Mr. Mullins is married to Mindi Mullins and they have 5 children, 1 son-in-law and 2 grandchildren.  Ryan Mullins lives in Irving with his wife and one remaining at home daughter. He received a Bachelor’s of Science degree from Oklahoma State University, a Master’s of Arts in Educational Leadership from Southern Nazarene University and an Ed.S from Oral Roberts University.

Scott Carpenter will be serving as the Assistant Headmaster for Great Hearts Prairie View.

Mr. Carpenter answered the calling of becoming an educator as a student at Dallas Baptist University in the Fall of 2009. After receiving his undergraduate degree in Philosophy and Biblical Studies, Mr. Carpenter started as a Special Education teacher in a dropout recovery high school in Dallas prior to serving in the same role and also as a coach in Denton, TX. He was able to win two state titles in football during his time as a coach and teacher in Denton.

His desire to spend quality time with his family (Wife of 13 years, Katie/ Daughter- Kylie/ Son-Noah/ Son-Leo) led him to pursue school administration, and he graduated from the University of North Texas in December 2014 with his Master’s in Educational Leadership. After graduation, Mr. Carpenter served in various school administration roles including Special Educational Leader, Assistant Headmaster of Founders Classical Academy, and Principal of a STEM school. Mr. Carpenter feels blessed and excited to be a part of the Great Hearts Prairie View family for the second year!

David LaPointe serves as the Director of Campus Operations for Great Hearts Prairie View. As Director of Operations, Mr. LaPointe works to drive school enrollment and attendance, manage the operational campus staff as well as help to promote a stronger community environment within our Prairie View family.

Mr. LaPointe comes to Great Hearts after 8 years of work with the Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth, having worked all over the United States as well as with many communities in the greater Fort Worth area.

A local Fort Worther, Mr. LaPointe has a passion for service. He received his bachelor’s degree in Philosophy and attained his master’s degree in Theology.

Leah Pittsinger served as the previous second grade lead teacher at Great Hearts Prairie View and is joining our Leadership team this year as a new Dean of Academics. She graduated from the University of North Texas in 2008 with a Bachelor’s degree in Music Education and received a Master’s degree in Educational Leadership and Policies Studies at the University of Texas, Arlington in May 2023. Mrs. Pittsinger’s experience includes teaching all grade levels (K-12) and creating and directing campus-wide extracurricular programs. She is dedicated to serving in love, valuing the uniqueness of each child, and challenging the students within her influence to rise to their full potential.

Mrs. Pittsinger is a native North Texan. She and her husband, Carey, have been married for 13 years and have three sons: Joseph (11), Daniel (9), and Zeke (4). She enjoys serving the community, playing piano, reading, and writing. Mrs. Pittsinger is thrilled to serve as a campus leader for the Prairie View team!

Laarni Cu has been a special education practitioner for more than 15 years. She moved to Texas with her husband and 2 children in 2019. Prior to working at Great Hearts, she worked as an Early Childhood Special Education Teacher in Fort Worth ISD.

Ms. Cu was born and raised in the Philippines. Her mother was a teacher, and as a kid she dreamt of following her footsteps. She graduated with a degree in Elementary Education and has master’s degree is Special Education. During her free time, Ms. Cu loves to cook, read books, spend time with her family and her 2 dogs!

Ms. Cu is very excited to be part of the Prairie View family and is looking forward to a great school year!

Shelly Arogunmati will be serving as the 504/MTSS Coordinator at Great Hearts Prairie View.

Ms. Arogunmati grew up in sunny Orlando, Florida and attended the University of Central Florida. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Development and Education. 

Upon moving to Fort Worth in 2015, Ms. Arogunmati began her teaching career at private schools specifically designed to serve a variety of special needs. Her goal is to help all students reach their full potential. 

In addition to teaching, Ms. Arogunmati’s newest passion is caring for her two children- Myles, 4 and Ava, 2- with her husband, David. She is equally excited to begin a new journey at Great Hearts Prairie View, as well as continue to provide quality education to all types of learners. 

Krista Bowman serves as the campus registrar for Great Hearts Prairie View. As the campus registrar, Ms. Bowman manages and maintains the student information databases in relation to daily attendance reports, enrollment of students, and student files.

Ms. Bowman is wrapping up her Journalism degree with minors in Music, Philosophy, Business and Marketing from the University of North Texas. In addition to the Mean Green family, she has also attended Tarleton State University in Stephenville, TX where she served as an active philanthropy member for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals with Phi Mu, and dedicated her free time to volunteering as a campus tour guide. 

Ms. Bowman is a native to the Ft. Worth area, and enjoys her off days by photographing with her camera, journaling, reading, and spending time with her 2 year old daughter, Olivia.

Lorie Mashburn is beginning her journey at Great Hearts Prairie View this year as the Campus Nurse.

Nurse Mashburn answered her calling as a Registered Nurse 22 years ago. After earning her bachelor’s degree in nursing at the University of Texas at Arlington in December 1999,  She has gone on to experience both adult and pediatric nursing.  Nurse Mashburn has a history of 5 years of school nurse experience, including 1 year of lower school and 4 years of upper school. She is very excited to be a part of Great Hearts Prairie View!

Anne Miller is joining Great  Hearts Prairie View as a teacher this year.

Mrs. Miller was born and raised in Lewisville, Texas, and currently lives in Grapevine, where her and her husband enjoy an active lifestyle. She recently graduated from Scarborough College, a private school in Ft. Worth, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Humanities. She is newly married to Jack, her high school sweetheart, and enjoys drinking coffee, reading good books, and spending time with her family. Mrs. Miller is excited to make the transition from teaching early childhood education, to being a teacher at Great Hearts Prairie View!

Jaimie Van Tassel will be serving as a teacher this upcoming school year.  She is joining our team after serving the previous school year at Great Hearts Lakeside.

Mrs. Van Tassel spent the first half of her career serving Mental & Behavioral Health patients as she directed and oversaw the business operations for a local health care company.  Welcoming a new challenge, she left healthcare to open up her own Event Management firm where she executed corporate and social events. After celebrating a successful 5-year run, Mrs. Van Tassel had a new calling: one to educate young minds.  Mrs. Van Tassel went back to school to earn her Teacher’s Certification and is excited to be joining the Prairie View team in furthering their mission.

Nancy Machado is going to be joining as a teacher at Great Hearts Prairie View this year.
Ms. Machado graduated from Southwestern Assemblies of God University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Education and obtained an Associate of Arts degree from Tarrant County College. Ms. Machado has an Elementary Teacher Certification from ACSI and has also worked as an elementary substitute teacher. Her favorite thing about teaching is seeing how students learn and grow throughout the year.
Outside of the classroom, Ms. Machado enjoys spending time with her family. She has been married for 18 glorious years to her husband Jean-Paul, and they have two fantastic children together, Nathan (15) and Elizabeth (13). During her free time, Ms. Machado and her family are always looking for fun things to do, and also enjoys cooking and listening to music.
Ms. Machado is looking forward to a year full of learning and fun experiences and is excited to be a part of the Great Hearts Prairie View family.

Sofia Ortiz was born in Dallas, Texas but was raised in Harvey, Louisiana. She recently moved back to Texas and is excited about the new journey in the big city.

Ms. Ortiz recently graduated in December from BYU-Idaho with a degree in Professional Studies and a minor in Elementary Education. She has experience working for a summer camp and has enjoyed the excitement of it all. Her favorite thing about education is the lightbulb effect when the students have been working towards a lesson and finally, it all makes sense. Ms. Ortiz loves to enjoy her summers traveling to different countries and learning about different cultures and traditions. She is very excited to begin her first year teaching at Great Hearts Prairie View!

Shawn Vest is excited to begin his journey as a teacher for the 3rd grade class. He is from Charleston, South Carolina and joined the Navy after high school. After the Navy, Mr. Vest spent time traveling the country before settling in the small Georgia town of Milledgeville. There, Mr. Vest studied History at Georgia Military College where he earned his Associates of Arts in History. From there he continued his education at Arizona State University where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in History.

Mr. Vest moved to Garland when his daughter went off to college at Georgia College & State University. When not at school, Mr. Vest enjoys reading, spending time with his daughter when she visits, and his cat, Rockstar happy.