Philadelphia has a New Home Grown Superintendent

June 1, 2005 -- Effective July 1, 2005, Dr. Verna Holmes will be appointed as the new Superintendent of Philadelphia Public Schools. Dr. Holmes has a vested interest in our school

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 district, as she is a product of the Philadelphia public school system. She attended Birney Elementary School, Fels Junior High School and graduated from Dobbins Area Vocational Technical High School. Her entire professional career has been with the School District of Philadelphia. Directly out of high school, Dr. Holmes worked for the district as a secretary. While working as a secretary, she went to college to earn her degrees, B.S., Computer Science, MS, Education

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, MS Education

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 Administration, Ed.D in Education.

Dr. Holmes has held the positions of teacher, principal and director of curriculum development.

As the superintendent, Dr. Holmes will be responsible for the overall operations of the School District of Philadelphia. She has a clear vision that puts the academic, emotional and social needs of the children in the forefront. The first change made by Dr. Holmes is the reduction of class size. Studies have proven that class size is directly correlated to student learning. Therefore, class size (grades k-8) will be reduced to 20 students. In all other grades, class size will be reduced to 25.

Dr. Holmes holds the children near to her heart. While attending an elementary school concert, she said, with tears in her eyes, “she remembers like it was yesterday when she played in the junior high school band at Fels Jr. High School. I will always make sure that arts are funded in Philadelphia.”