PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Educators from the past 40 years gathered at School District of Philadelphia headquarters on Wednesday as the building was renamed for the city’s first Black and first female superintendent, Dr. Constance Clayton.
Hundreds of teachers and school leaders from the 1980s to the current day applauded at the unveiling of the sign heralding the Constance E. Clayton Education Center.
“Today we gather here at 440 North Broad Street to ensure that the heart of our school district finally reflects the name of its greatest — and I mean its greatest — champion,” said Board of Education President Reginald Streater.
Clayton, a Girls’ High alum, served as superintendent from 1982 to 1993. During the 2 1/2-hour ceremony, many in the crowd wore red to honor Clayton as a member of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority. Sorority president Dr. Thelma Daley said Clayton was a respected educator.
“She had confidence. She had courage,” Daley said. “She had high, high standards. But let me tell you, she just didn't keep them high. She raised you to those standards.”
Former Philadelphia Federation of Teachers president Jerry Jordan recalled how she instituted a standardized curriculum across the district.
“We as teachers complained about it initially but we all ended up falling in love with it,” Jordan recalled, “and long after Dr. Clayton retired, I would visit schools and teachers would pull out the standardized curriculum that they were still using.”
Clayton, who died in 2023 at the age of 89, has also been memorialized inside the building with four murals depicting her with children and her love for the arts. In addition, the 1400 block of Buttonwood Street outside the building now bears the ceremonial name, Dr. Constance E. Clayton Way.
Michael Casserly, the former head of the Council of the Great City Schools, said Clayton would be proud her mission was being honored.
“She'd be glad to see how far urban education has come,” he said, “but then she'd tilt her head just slightly and she'd remind us — the work is not yet done.”
Constance E. Clayton was the city’s first Black female superintendent
Constance E. Clayton was the city’s first Black female superintendent
