Staff Spotlight Maryum Reed, Director of Admissions With a warm neighborly smile, Ms. Maryum Reed proudly welcomes students from across the greater Boston area to Cathedral High School. Her rich […]
Staff Spotlight
Maryum Reed, Director of Admissions
With a warm neighborly smile, Ms. Maryum Reed proudly welcomes students from across the greater Boston area to Cathedral High School. Her rich family history, rooted strongly in the South End of Boston’s educational community, means CHS’s Director of Admissions knows her audience well and treats every student like family.
As a school aged South End resident, Ms. Reed attended Mass with her grandmother in Mission Hill. She admired the ebb and flow of her faith-based community and remembers special childhood moments attending church and shopping for “Sunday Best” clothes in downtown department stores with her Grandmother, who she aspired to emulate.
Ms. Reed reflects, “My grandmother, Bessie Tartt instilled in me a strong work ethic and drive to be a successful woman.” Working as a nurse, Bessie Tartt came to Boston from Alabama just after WWII and established the first Black Nurses Registry. Her entrepreneurial spirit and willingness to help others led her to establish a boarding school, and later a day care center to provide affordable education and care for inner-city families. Today, Tartt’s Daycare Center stands as the oldest minority run day care center in Massachusetts with three generations of family members working in the daycare.
With education playing a leading role in Ms. Reed’s life, and under the strong guidance of her family, she attended Boston College for her undergraduate degree. Earning a Master’s degree in Early Elementary Education at UMass Boston, Ms. Reed started her post-graduate teaching career as a teacher at Boston Public Schools. Officially, her career launched during her Sophomore year of college when, sadly, her beloved grandmother passed away. Ms. Reed rose to the challenge of becoming both a teacher and lead administrator for the day care center, so it is no surprise that her career path has followed a similar trajectory from teaching to administration.
In 2020, Maryum Reed became a member of the CHS leadership team and has been thriving in her role as Director of Admissions. The 2021 school year, despite the continued challenges schools face amidst a pandemic environment, began with a record number of 9th grade enrollment and many grades are nearing capacity. Her success at CHS stems from her passion to provide quality education to underprivileged inner city students, a mission both of Cathedral and one that has echoed generations deep in Boston’s South End through her own family.
“When I am able to get people into this building they are amazed.” she shares. “They never thought all of this was here, newly renovated facilities, STEAM based learning, athletics, clubs, a culture of support and faith, AP classes and so much more. I love seeing our new families light up when they see how easy and accessible it is to apply and how affordable a private school education can be. The mission is so strong and gives back so much to this community. I really believe in it, I believe in the school, I believe in the community, because it’s my community too. My goal is to reach more and more families who may feel like private education has not been an option for them —and show them that it is and it’s right here.”
In addition to her work at CHS, Ms. Reed is also raising two beautiful and energetic young daughters and dreams that they too will follow in the family tradition of excellence in education and overcoming any adversity they face to find success and joy in life.
If you are interested to speaking with Ms. Reed and learning about how a CHS education could be right for your student, please email admissions@Cathedralhighschool.net or visit www.cathedralhighschool.net for details. Registration is also available online for the next CHS open house on November 16th from 4:00 – 7:30 pm.
