Tara Haskins is honored to serve as the Founding School Leader of Kansas City Girls Preparatory Academy, which is the first and only public single gender school in Kansas City’s history. As a proud Hampton University graduate, she is an HBCU advocate who truly believes that representation not only matters, but is essential to any community. Driven by her desire to support all students finding their true genius, she has served as an ELA teacher, History teacher, Dean of Restorative Justice and Assistant Principal at KIPP Voyage Academy for Girls in Houston. During her time at KIPP Voyage, her implementation of school-wide restorative practices led to out of school suspensions decreasing by half in a single year. Also, her leadership of the implementation of a standards-aligned English Language Arts curriculum led to students and staff achieving 2020 academic goals two years ahead of schedule.

As the Founding School Leader of KC Girls Prep, she continues to collaborate with the community and her phenomenal staff to create a space when scholars are truly able to use their voice. In the winder of 2022, KC Girls Prep was recognized as a top 5 school for growth of black students in the Kansas City area. Most recently, KC Girls Prep has received the Equity in Action Award by Nonprofit Connect. Tara was also the 2022 receptive of the Excellence in Education award presented by the Missouri Charter Public School Association and the 2021 recipient of the Ann Tisch Inspire Award presented by the Student Leadership Network. She believes that collaboration, listening, and love are the core drivers to any organization.