Claire Rogers

Principal Dr.LaTisha Williams sings to students in the stands at the Everyday Champions Assembly Aug.18 in the Main Gym.

Dr. LaTisha Williams starts her day at five in the morning with a workout, but rather than go to a class at the YMCA in Atchison like she did for 20 years, she’s in her garage in Shawnee, with a YouTube video playing from a TV and free weights. 

She ends her workout at 5:45 a.m., then grabs her daily devotional. She leaves her home around 6:35 a.m., and pulls into Shawnee Mission Northwest between 6:50 to 7:00 a.m. ready to greet students in the mall.

Dr. Williams welcomes students she’s never met before, in a school brand new to her, rather than the 450 Atchison students she’d known for years. 

“I feel like being here and knowing that there’s more folks, getting around to get to know everybody is really hard,” Dr. Williams said. “That was my biggest worry, I was like ‘How am I going to get to know them?’” 

Dr. Williams is in her first year at Northwest, replacing Dr. Lisa Gruman, who left NW last year after 20 years for a job in the Blue Valley School District.

“Dr. Gruman did such a good job to make sure it was a smooth transition,” associate principal Connie Springfield said. “Just overall from where we left off at the end of the school year last year, to stay ahead of the planning was just a smooth transition where nothing really had to be changed.”

Dr. Williams is from a “family town,” as she puts it, and grew up with a single mother and two siblings. Her mom was a department manager at Walmart. 

“I came from a mom who had to work a whole lot,” Dr. Williams said. “So, I always had to have somebody, not that my mom didn’t pour into me, but I always had someone at school that was my safe place as well.”

While attending Atchison High School, a para teacher, Marla Kelley, showed Dr. Williams she can be whatever she wants to.

“She told me every single day ‘Much is given, much is required,’ I don’t care what your circumstance is, I don’t care what you come from, who your mom or your dad is, you get to write your own story,” Dr. Williams said. 

As a freshman, that made Dr. Williams think about life beyond just ninth grade. 

Kelley helped Dr. Williams realize she wanted to go into Special Education. 

Dr. Williams went to Benedictine College on a full-ride scholarship. She got her undergraduate degree in special education and elementary learning. Later, she received her masters in administration from Benedictine, a doctorate from Kansas State University. 

In 20001, Dr. Williams started as a student teacher at the Atchison Middle School, then was hired as the 8th grade Special Education teacher the year after. 

“I absolutely loved special education because you are those kids’ advocates,” Dr. Williams said. 

From there, Dr. Williams experienced nearly all levels of education over the next 20 years. She spent eight years as a special education teacher in Atchison, followed by four years as a third grade teacher, then four years as an elementary-level special education teacher in Dallas, then four years as an English teacher in Atchison, moving back after her mother became ill. 

In 2019, Willams became principal for the alternative school in Atchison, Central School. After four years, she became the principal at Atchison High and worked alongside some of the teachers that she had growing up.

“I really enjoyed being a principal there because I knew families,” Willliams said. “That was kind of a benefit, I would tell kids ‘I know your mom, I know she wouldn’t appreciate that.’”

In 2025, after finishing her doctorate at K-State, and devoting 21 years to the Atchison Schools, Dr. Williams was looking for a new position.

“I finished up my doctorate in 2025 to be a superintendent, so I was looking to do that,” Dr. Williams said. 

In January of 2026, Dr. Williams applied to become the Riverside USD 114 superintendent, a twenty minute drive from her home in Atchison. She was one of three finalists interviewed. She was not chosen. 

Dr. Williams believed that when the superintendent door closed, a new one would open. 

A couple months later, one did. 

“ is something about being denied and told no that you just keep fighting for the next thing,” Dr. Williams said. “Since I did not get that position, I applied at Northwest.”

In May, she went through three rounds of interviews, visited the school, then had one last interview at the Center of Academic Achievement(CAA). Afterwards, Dr. Williams was chosen to be the new principal at NW. 

  “That’s what I truly believe, that I have purpose here. It’s meant for me to be here,” Dr. Williams said.

Dr. Williams walked into Northwest and met the person who’d been running it for the past 12. Standing there was Dr. Gruman. They immediately hugged. 

“Her energy, her care, her dedication and kindness.
I mean, just immediately I could tell she was amazing,” Gruman said. “I just felt, you know, like Northwest was going to be in such great hands with her leadership and just immediately felt comfortable and so excited for the next step would be taking.”

In mid-July, Dr. Williams sat in her new office for the first time with no air conditioning, since it’s turned off for the summer. She couldn’t take the heat, so she explored the school, in search of anything that could cool her off. A fan, anything. 

After talking to the custodians, she walked through the mall area and heard music booming from the basement. 

“I walked downstairs to the weight room and I’m like ‘Hey I’m your new principal’ and they’re like ‘Who is this crazy lady?’ Dr. Williams said. “But everyone immediately started talking to me and having conversations with me and I thought that was cool.”

Throughout the summer Dr. Williams connected and worked with the administration team. 

“She was all in 100% as soon as day one started in July,” Springfield said. “And you don’t see that a lot, it’s very rare, so I knew we had someone special.” 

Dr. Williams first student-facing task at Northwest was freshman first day. She was going to have to introduce herself and let the people-person in her shine in front of the jam packed aux gym. 

Growing up attending church at Shiloh Baptist, with a family full of singers, she thought singing would win over the hearts of the freshman.

“My immediate family on my grandmother’s side are singers,” Dr. Williams said. “It’s mostly gospel music because I grew up a church kid, and so I sang on the praise and worship team.”

She directs the freshmen to place their hands on their chest and tell themselves “There is greatness here.” She made them repeat it again. And again: “There is greatness here.”

“Actually her first day with the freshman was very enlightening in the sense that she just came in, it sounded like she was a natural,” Springfield said. “She was very peppy, she’s got a lot of school spirit and her overall goal is that she wants the best for every student.”

After her greatness speech, Dr. Williams sang “Pay Attention,” from Whoopi Goldberg’s 1993 film “Sister Act 2.”

“If you want to be somebody,

If you want to go somewhere, 

Then you’ve got to wake up and pay attention.”

At the Everyday Champion assembly, she went in with the same attitude. 

“One of my main messages at the back to school assembly was that there is greatness that lives here,” Dr. Williams said. “Greatness doesn’t necessarily have to be something as far as biblical or spiritual because everybody I feel like has greatness within. And I feel like you just have to find it and realize that gift in ways that inspire other people and so that’s one message that was always told to me as a young girl that there’s greatness that lives here, use your gift.”

Dr. Williams is one month into her tenure. She and her husband, Donell, are moved in. Their youngest of three children, Kassius, started 3rd grade at Benninghoven across the street. Their other two in college.  

On the announcements, Dr. Williams is asking students to pat themselves on the back for showing up to school. She’s popped into classes to interact with students and teachers. She’s at volleyball and football games and helped the crowd cheer, proving to the NW community that she may not be a Shawnee kid but she’s here now. 

“I just know that it’s a part of my plan to be here, and a part of my purpose to be here, so I want to do it to the fullest,” Dr. Williams said.