Meghan Jones brings a passion for faith, innovation and education to her role as the new principal at Prince of Peace Catholic School in Plano.
By Thomas Cluck
Special to The Texas Catholic
A familiar face around the Prince of Peace Catholic School community, Meghan Jones begins the 2019 school year as the Plano school’s newest principal. Over the past decade, Jones has taught at various Catholic schools across the Diocese of Dallas, including Prince of Peace.
As a chemistry major, graduate of a Catholic university and a person of faith from her childhood, education wasn’t her first career choice. Her transition from sales to education, though, was an obvious one.
“I was pretty successful, but just didn’t feel fulfilled or inspired. I had several friends that went on to teach at Catholic schools and several encouraged me to seek that vocation out,” said Jones, who began her teaching career at St. Augustine Catholic School in Pleasant Grove. “I absolutely loved it.”
Jones, who also taught at Holy Trinity Catholic School before taking a break from classroom teaching and working as a private tutor, returned to the classroom teaching sixth-grade math at Prince of Peace for the past five years.
It was at Prince of Peace that Jones said a natural gravitation toward and talent for leadership began to shine. She returned to the classroom not only as a teacher, but also a student, pursuing a master’s degree in educational leadership from Creighton University.
Jones then moved into an administrative role at Prince of Peace, developing a program for student development on-campus.
Leadership and innovation in an educational setting came natural to her, Jones said
“Just taking on different responsibilities, I think I just thrive off of that,” she said. “And so I felt like I could serve Catholic schools in that capacity at some point.”
Jones didn’t always know she wanted to serve as an administrator, but she could always sense her desire and passion for leading students and a school community.
“I’ve always had a passion for making things better, and bringing out students’ and communities’ God-given potential,” she said. “Whether that was me coaching robotics or soccer, cross country, and the different hats that I have worn over the years, I’ve just always tried to serve whichever community I was a part of to the best of my ability.”
Jones praised the different ways the POP community benefits students and families, noting those experiences helped inspire her to pursue a leadership role.
“We are always trying to be on the cutting edge of education, whether it be technology-based, project-based learning or just career readiness, all of those things are driving forces for us,” Jones said. “I’ve never been around a faculty and staff that was dedicated to their professions and growing like we have. They’re so willing to continue learning to continue to make our school better – and it’s very inspiring to be a part of that.”
Jones said she loves how Catholic education gives her and her staff the opportunity to educate the whole person.
“It’s not just academics. We’re looking at servant leadership, lots of faith, inspiring kids to shine to their fullest potential,” Jones said. “We’re not only interested in the academic success of children, but also we’re interested in their spiritual success and how they take that into their own communities as they get older.”
As principal, Jones hopes to continue to improve upon what she already believes is a great community at Prince of Peace.
“I’ve never seen a community come together like this one has and support the families in it,” she said. “There’s just a genuine love for one another here.”
Find more stories on new principals and the start of the new school year in the Aug. 23 print edition of The Texas Catholic.
