Dallas ISD is set to partner with the non-profit community to turn a vacated school building in South Dallas into a one-stop shop that will serve both students and their families.
Dallas ISD officials on Thursday signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Zan Wesley Holmes, Jr. Community Outreach Center to transform Julia C. Frazier Elementary, which closed in 2012, into the Frazier House. The Frazier House will offer a shared space between Dallas ISD and the non-profit that meets the academic and social services needs of students and families in South Dallas.
“The Frazier House will let us serve the student beyond the classroom,” said Dr. Cynthia Wilson, Dallas ISD Chief of Staff. “We’ve never had anything like this in Dallas ISD. We are excited about the positive impact this will have on our students and their families.”
DeMetris Sampson, board chair of the Zan Wesley Holmes, Jr. Community Outreach Center, and Dr. Cynthia Wilson, Dallas ISD chief of staff, sign a Memorandum of Understanding for the Frazier House.
Allen Avery, a board member of the Zan Wesley Holmes, Jr. Community Outreach Center, said the Frazier House would address systemic issues in the surrounding community that lead to poverty. For parents, the Frazier House will offer education classes, skills training, and social services such as counseling and financial literacy courses. The Frazier House will also have space for a call center that could provide jobs in the community.
Meanwhile, Dallas ISD will have departments such as Parent and Community Engagement, the Truancy Department, and Homeless Services at the building to meet the needs of students.
“This partnership with Zan Wesley Holmes and the Dallas ISD is truly ground breaking,” said Tom Hayden of Dallas ISD’s Volunteer and Partnership Services. “We are excited to be a part of something extraordinary.”
Dallas ISD set aside money in the 2015 Bridge Plan to help fund the renovation of the Frazier House.
Dallas ISD Trustee Bernadette Nutall, an advocate of the Frazier House, said the facility would have a significant impact on South Dallas families.
“I’m excited for the hope that the Frazier House will provide for our community,” she said. “I’m happy how the Frazier House will offer the hope for tomorrow and for the future for South Dallas.”
