Tressa is a pioneering entrepreneur in education. She has years of experience in leadership as principal of a state school and in private education where she developed three of her own schools and assisted as a consultant in the set-up of other independent schools.

At the start of her career Tressa soon realised that her future lay in education leadership and curriculum design.  After only 5 years in the classroom, Tressa became one of South Africa’s youngest female school principals.  While serving as a state school principal she spent many years serving on the previous South African Teachers Association executive committee dealing with broader educational issues throughout South Africa at both national and provincial level.

In her desire to see change in South Africa she also served on many associations concerned with education and the environment.  She volunteered her services to schools in township areas and spent time in Botswana as an education consultant for De Beers Mining Company.

In 1996 she left state education in order to start her own private school, Noordhoek Private School (Grade 1 to Grade 12), which she sold in 2004 in order to broaden her experience as an Education Consultant.  During her time at NPS she also assisted in the set- up of the American International School of Cape Town and also acted as a consultant in the start-up of Synergy School (now Capella House). She also founded her own small private tutorial college where she offered the Cambridge IGCSE and HIGCSE syllabus to senior phase students.

In 2005 her entrepreneur spirit took her to the small country towns of Swellendam and Montagu where she assisted in the set –up of two small country schools offering education from Age 2 to Grade 12 following the philosophies of Maria Montessori, Synergy Schooling and her own belief in hands on, experiential learning designed to cater for the individual.

After returning to Cape Town in 2009 she assisted in the start- up of Africa Soccer Developments and spent the next 5 years as principal, education co-ordinator, and teacher and residence manager. Having completed her contract at ASD, Tressa has set up an Education Consultancy Network and has recently become specifically interested and involved in on-line learning.

Southern African Virtual School is part of her quest to keep abreast of new education opportunities and providing education for the future.  She is also an experienced on-line teacher, teaching English and Business English to foreigners in her spare time.

Tressa brings with her a wealth of organisational and practical experience in all areas of school management and curriculum design.  She believes in an education process that extends beyond formal education, giving her students life-long learning experiences. Besides school management, she loves teaching and working with children of all ages.