Dr. Monica Dering was born in India and raised in the United Kingdom. She earned both her bachelor’s and doctoral degrees in neuroscience from Cardiff University, Wales. After years of mentoring adolescents, she discovered that they were her calling, and decided to obtain her teaching certificate. Dr. Dering’s focus as an educator is to create a safe emotional space for her students and to be a credible and consistent role model.

Dr. Dering’s sons attended Logan, Clague and Skyline, so she is also a proud AAPS parent. Her hobbies include baking cakes, downhill skiing, reading (particularly historical fiction), and spending time with family and friends. Since her favorite animal is the rat, she was especially excited to join the Huron River Rat family in 2020!