KANSAS CITY, Mo. — St. Teresa’s Academy has been a fixture in education since the 1860s—first with its building in Kansas City’s downtown and later at the Brookside campus where it remains today.
Dr. Siabhan May-Washington is the first Black woman to lead the school.
“To serve in leadership with a mission dedicated to making sure all young women can find their voice and use their talents to benefit our local environment, as well as the world,” Dr. May-Washington said. “I can’t be happier to sign on to help with such a mission.”
Dr. May-Washington started her career as a teacher in Kansas City Public Schools, spent a short time at an alternative school, and then rose through the ranks from English teacher to assistant principal at Pembroke Hill.
Dr. May-Washington left Pembroke Hill in 2019 to accept the position of president at St. Teresa’s Academy.
She spent many years learning in private schools herself. Her father worked multiple jobs to send May-Washington and her six siblings to various private schools.
Her parents viewed education as the key to their success.
“They understood because opportunities were not so readily available for them,” she said. “They saw fit to make sure their children would have that pathway.”
Dr. May-Washington said her family members and friends were the first to acknowledge the history she made by accepting the position at St. Teresa’s Academy.
“It blew me away. At the time I didn’t kind of focus on that because I am all about doing the work. But I get it,” she said. “I really do understand and cherish the specialness of being the first. The first in any echelon or realm is important to be able to show the way.”
Dr. May-Washington is not only creating a path for her successor but the hundreds of young women who walk the halls of St. Teresa’s Academy.
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