Veronica Goka
Veronica Goka
Ms. Veronica Goka was born, raised and educated in Ghana, West Africa. She brings over four decades of experience as an educator. A graduate of Wesley College and University of Cape Coast in Ghana, she later pursued advanced degrees at the City University of New York and Mercy College.
Veronica taught Ghana, Liberia and a private school in Manhattan before joining the New York City Department of Education. The Superintendent of District Six nominated Veronica as the Distinguished African American educator. As a Professional Development Specialist, she pioneered the implementation of the best practices in literacy instruction in a very traditional school to move student achievement. During her tenure as an Assistant Principal in District 11, literacy scores improved tremendously.
During her first three years as the principal at The Helen Keller School-P.S. 153, in the Bronx, Veronica led her team to remove the school from Year 3 in Need of Improvement to Good Standing. Within 5 years, the New York State Education Department identified Helen Keller School as a Reward School. She worked tirelessly to create systems and structures to improve student achievement and to engage teachers in meaningful professional development. Student performance and progress improved significantly in ELA and Math, which earned the school A on the Progress Report for three consecutive years. By the end of her tenure, the Helen Keller had become the most sought after elementary school in District 11.