Monique Keaton has dedicated her professional and personal life to education. What steers her inner drive to meet the unique characteristics and needs of each student, teacher, and the collaborative community member is her core belief that education on all levels is synonymous to respect, dignity, and integrity. This fervor for educating future generations and creating caring, lifelong learners is what she has carried throughout her professional career as an administrator and advocate for education.

During her 24 years of experience in education, Monique has served in several key leadership roles, including her current role as assistant principal at Ketterlinus Elementary school. Prior to this service, she was the assistant principal at Julington Creek Elementary. Her educational background reflects many dedicated years of professional development, lifelong learning, and growing. Her degrees include specializations in gifted education and education leadership. She has completed Leadership Academies, Phase I and Phase II for both the St. Johns County School District, and the Metropolitan Nashville Public School District. Prior to becoming an educator in St. Johns County, she served as assistant principal designee in Nashville, Tenn., and she served as a classroom teacher for 15 years in Nashville, in Asheville, N.C., and in St. Augustine. Twice, she was named Teacher of the Year. In addition to her Master of Science degree in education leadership, she has completed 30 hours toward an Education Specialist Degree and has endorsement in the areas of ESOL and Gifted Education. Over the past few years, she has served as the Northeast Region director of the Florida Assistant Principals Association, served on the SJCSD Recruitment Committee, worked alongside the leadership team at Ketterlinus Elementary to bring the school from “C” school status to “A” school status, and accumulated nearly 4,000 hours of professional development in the St. Johns County School District alone.

Her education and experiences have afforded her opportunities to interpret, support, and enforce school, district, state, and federal regulations and rules regarding education, as well as to enforce collective bargaining agreements. Monique believes professional development, self-growth, and servant leadership are vital to growing educators, students and the learning community at large.

Prior to the start of her career as an educator, and directly after undergraduate school, Monique worked as the human resources manager of Hyatt Regency Nashville and Crown Point Nashville for four years. It was in the hotel restaurant industry she learned the importance of refined customer service, a skill that she uses today as she provides a service to students, teachers and community stakeholders. She does it all with a smile — both physically and from within. Monique believes children deserve five-star service, and she intends to continue being instrumental in making sure they receive it.

She enjoys, in order of priority, faith, family, children, teaching, learning on all levels, inspiring people one person at a time, reading to educate, running, Tennessee Walking Horses and peace. She recently celebrated 16 years of marriage to Michael Keaton, a very kind, hardworking gentleman who supports education as well.