Kara Mannix
High School Principal
Kara Mannix is a high school principal at California Connections Academy. Ms. Mannix earned a BA in Psychology and Child Development from University of California, Davis and a MA in Educational Psychology from Columbia University. She also has a teaching credential from California State University, Monterey. She joined Connections Academy in 2015.
Ms. Mannix chose to become an educator because after working as a swimming instructor, camp counselor, and volunteer in school as a teenager, she learned she enjoyed the experience of working with children. In college, she worked with social justice issues and special populations. After working in Louisiana with Teach for America, she focused on education as a career.
Ms. Mannix enjoys helping students who are having challenges or are struggling. She is gifted in working with those who may not believe in themselves or that positive things are possible for them. She enjoys helping them figure out how to overcome obstacles and how to create individual plans to make them successful.
“Our teachers are the key to creating a welcoming community for students. I am proud of how my team routinely goes above and beyond for all their families. They are thoughtful, kind, collaborative and proactive in working with individual families. In addition to their students, they are highly supportive of new staff members. The school has a strong culture of being positive and supportive of all in the school community.
“We have the best staff ever! They are truly amazing. They are positive, problem solvers who are incredibly supportive. They do everything to help students succeed.”
— Ms. Mannix
Our online setting enables teachers to truly personalize the educational experience for students. As they are not in a physical classroom, they have more time to talk with students and families. They use those conversations to work with students to create the next steps that work best for them.
Our teachers work hard to build relationships with students to make them confident and motivated learners. As we offer a strong curriculum, students who complete our program have an advantage as they learn other soft academic skills like self motivation, time management and more. This sets them up to be successful in their future endeavours.”