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 12 years, Katie/ Daughter- Kylie, 8/ Son-Noah, 5) 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!

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.

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!

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 Science 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 1 year old daughter, Olivia.

Luis Castaneda is joining our Prairie View family this year as our Campus Porter!

Mr. Castaneda is a father to two kids, and when he is not spending his time at work, he enjoys spending time with his family. He has had 10 years of experience as a campus porter at 3 other schools, and is a Texas Native. Mr. Castaneda is very excited to begin the school year at his new school, and is excited to be a part of the Prairie View family!

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!

Krystal Brown serves as the Co-Curricular Campus Coordinator for Great Hearts Prairie View. As the campus coordinator, she will manage and execute the Great Hearts Co-Curricular Athenaeum program.

Ms. Brown pursued a Bachelor of Science degree in Educational Studies at the University of Arkansas. Throughout her career path in the education field, she has been a full-time substitute for grade levels 6^th-8^th and a site director of after-care programs for grade levels pre-K-8^th grade. Making an impact in the lives of scholars is something that drives Ms. Brown to go to work every day.

Ms. Brown is originally from Los Angeles, CA, but has been making Fort Worth, TX her new home for the past year. Outside of work, she enjoys exploring the DFW area to find aesthetically appealing restaurants with the best pizza and fun places to show off her hidden athletic talents, like Pickleball.

Shelly Arogunmati will be serving as a Special Education teacher 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, 2 and Ava, 8 months- 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. 

Anita Villalpando will serve as a teacher for Great Hearts Prairie View.

Ms. Villalpando grew up in a small town in Southeast Texas where she attended Barbers Hill ISD from K-12. She enjoyed being a part of the debate team and Soaring Eagle Band as a color guard member and clarinet/bass clarinet player. 

Ms. Villalpando attended University of Dallas where she took the opportunity to study abroad in Italy and Costa Rica, play lacrosse, and sing in choir. She received her B.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies and concentration in Music. Ms. Villalpando currently holds a teaching license in EC-6th grade and ESL. 

Ms. Villalpando started her teaching career working at Great Hearts as an apprentice teacher in 2015 and served at the Catholic Diocese for 4 years as a music and 4th grade homeroom teacher. Outside school, she enjoys road trips and spending time with family. 

Ms. Villalpando looks forward to returning to classical education as a Great Hearts lower school teacher.

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!

Brittni Swink is a teacher for Great Hearts Prairie View.

Ms. Swink is from Jackson, Wyoming, and graduated from George Fox University with a B.S. in Health and Human Performance (physical education). She’s worked with children in a variety of settings from preschool to high school. These past two years, Ms. Swink has been teaching at a private Christian school- 2nd grade last year and 4th grade this year. Ms. Swink has a love for sports and has coached volleyball for many years from middle school to high school ages. Her JV team was undefeated last year! Ms. Swink has also coached basketball and directed a summer sports camp with various sports. She enjoys the outdoors and anything in the water: paddle boarding, kayaking, swimming, etc. She is moving to Texas with her puppy Patsy and cat Charlie and  is so excited to join the Prairie View team!

Eleanor Bristow will be serving as the Physical Education Teacher at Great Hearts Prairie View.

Miss Bristow graduated from Midwestern State University with a bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology and Education. Miss Bristow is currently working towards her master’s in educational leadership and then on to her doctorate in education. Her love of coaching began when she was young playing any and every sport she could. Miss Bristow has traveled and lived all over the world as she was a military brat. When Miss Bristow is not coaching or teaching, she is spending time with her son and family.

Miss Bristow cannot wait for the upcoming school year and is excited to be a part of the Prairie View family!

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.

Katherine Kalinowski will be serving as the Fine Arts-Music Teacher at Great Hearts Prairie View.

Miss Kalinowski graduated from the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music with a Bachelor’s Degree in Clarinet Performance. Her love of teaching began when she taught private clarinet, saxophone, and piano lessons after graduation. Miss Kalinowski joined the U.S. Navy as an active duty musician and has over 11 years of experience performing and traveling in Navy Bands to locations including Italy, Vietnam, Papua New Guinea, and Hawaii. As part of her role as a Navy Musician, she was a frequent guest clinician in schools, where she got to instruct all levels of students. She enjoys painting in watercolors and acrylics and has participated in art shows in Chicago.

Miss Kalinowski is originally from St. Charles, Missouri and is excited to be in Texas to teach at Great Hearts Prairie View!

Leah Pittsinger serves as a teacher at Great Hearts Prairie View. She graduated from the University of North Texas in 2008 with a Bachelor’s degree in Music Education. She is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Educational Leadership and Policies Studies at the University of Texas, Arlington. 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 12 years and have three sons: Joseph (10), Daniel (8), and Zeke (3). She enjoys serving and helping others, playing piano, reading, and writing. Mrs. Pittsinger is thrilled to be part of the Prairie View team!

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.

Timothy McDonald will be serving as a 3^rd grade instructor this coming school year. This will be his second-year teaching. He will be joining the Prairie View team after spending last school year with an Arizona Great Hearts school, Trivium Prep. At Trivium, he taught 11^th and 12^th grade Humane Letters.

Mr. McDonald was born and raised in a rustic Kentucky railroad-town fifteen minutes from Cincinnati, Ohio. Thanks to this, he has an odd combination of southern, midwestern, and northern tendencies. After graduating with a B.A. in Philosophy, he moved to northern Georgia and spent some time taking care of memory care patients as a CNA before taking a job as an office manager for a physical therapy clinic. While he took these jobs after graduating, Mr. McDonald knew all along that he wanted to teach. Given this, Mr. McDonald and his wife Sarah packed up their things and made the cross-country trip to Arizona. Since joining the Great Heart’s community, they have welcomed their first child, Rosemary Dianne (4/13/22). Joining the Prairie View team will allow the McDonalds to move closer to family with the excitement of furthering the school’s mission of forming virtuous and great-hearted citizens.

Franceen Mayo will be serving as a 3^rd grade instructor at Great Hearts Prairie View. She is joining the Prairie View team after serving the previous school year as a Teachers Apprentice in Special Education at Great Hearts Lakeside.

Ms. Mayo has a bachelor’s degree in English: Creative Writing as well as graduate work in Linguistics from the University of North Texas. She has held a variety of positions in the field of Education including peer tutoring, substitute teaching, being a supplemental instructor at a local community college, scoring standardized tests for Pearson Education, and working as a teacher for students of special populations in both the high school and lower school settings. She is relatively new to the world of classical education but has quickly fallen in love with richness and rigor of curriculum as well as the pursuit of truth, goodness, and beauty that is so ingrained in the culture.

Joining Ms. Mayo will be her son, Ben (7,) and daughter, Olivia (6), who are also transferring from the Lakeside campus where they grew so much as scholars. They are so excited about what the new school and school year will bring.

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!

Jamie Arnold is from the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Mr. Arnold recently graduated from Dallas Baptist University with a Bachelor of Arts in History. This will be Mr. Arnold’s first year teaching at Great Hearts.

Mr. Arnold loves to travel, and hopes to use his experience to bless his students and give them a true love of learning.