How historic J.J. Rhoads Elementary School became South Dallas’ resource center for DISD families

The decades-old Joseph J. Rhoads school in South Dallas has undergone a series of changes. It was the first Dallas public school to switch from a whites-only to a Black elementary school in 1955. Sixty years later, the district’s 2015 bond package called for the construction of a new elementary campus to replace the J.J. Rhoads Learning Center.

But instead of a new J.J. Rhoads, Dallas ISD ultimately decided to build a new H.S. Thompson Elementary. J.J. Rhoads had absorbed H.S. Thompson’s students in 2012 after the board voted to shutter the Bonton school and 10 others.

By 2020 DISD had decided to rebuild a new H.S. Thompson on the site where the school had been torn down, and convert the J.J. Rhoads campus from an elementary school to a pre-K learning center with an attached resource center — an idea brought forward by parents during a meeting with Stephanie Elizalde, then DISD’s Chief of Schools, says current South Dallas Trustee Ed Turner.

J.J. Rhoads and H.S. Thompson: From neighboring schools to a combined campus

As Dallas Free Press noted in a previous story, the 2015 bond anticipated “the construction of a new PreK–5 elementary school in District 9 to replace Joseph J. Rhoads Learning Center” and also included the possibility of a new H.S. Thompson.

By late 2019, Dallas ISD’s data showed that splitting attendance zones would leave one or both campuses half empty, and the district presented a third option to make the new H.S. Thompson big enough to house all of the Rhoads and Thompson students.

“The larger H.S. Thompson may create space in neighboring schools that can house an early childhood center, or other partnerships and resources that can serve the entire South Dallas community,” states an open letter from Stephanie Elizalde to South Dallas residents dated Dec. 5, 2019.

Some residents began worrying that DISD might shutter the historic J.J. Rhoads elementary school that has educated multiple generations of community members. A petition garnering 382 signatures pleaded with community members to voice opposition to the school’s closure.

“While it may be necessary to change grade configurations at some south Dallas schools to effectively utilize building space,” Elizalde wrote in her letter, “no South Dallas schools will be closed as part of any proposal.”

The DISD board voted to change the attendance boundaries in March 2020, ending J.J. Rhoads’ decades-long run as an elementary school. The campus reopened as a pre-K center for 3- and 4-year-olds in 2021. 

Then roughly a year ago, in January 2024, the Resource Center South opened within the J.J. Rhoads campus, constructed as part of the 2020 bond program. 

Dallas ISD resource centers address ‘historic segregation,’ ‘decades of disinvestment’

Of the $3.7 billion voter-approved bond package, $41.3 million was dedicated to open resource centers in four Dallas high school zones: H. Grady Spruce, L.G. Pinkston, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Lincoln. 

The intent, according to an October 2020 report, was to “support the whole child in communities that have been historically and systematically oppressed by Dallas ISD and other governmental institutions.”

So far, only the South Dallas center has opened. Each center’s purpose is to provide DISD students and their families with resources for food, mental health, recreational activities and job training. The hope is that these services will help families overcome obstacles that may interfere with their children’s academic success, says Liliana Valadez, executive director of Dallas ISD’s resource centers.

Dallas ISD chose the locations using Child Poverty Action Lab’s Community Resource Index (CRI), which “helps to identify neighborhoods where public investment can provide needed support for students and their families.”

“Research shows us that when children and our communities are provided the resources that they need to thrive, they do just that,” said DISD deputy superintendent Pamela Lear at the center’s grand opening.

Ample space at Resource Center South for more services 

Bond dollars can pay for things like buildings and equipment, but not for staff or programming. Dallas ISD’s model for the resource centers was to invest in community space with taxpayer-approved bonds, and find partners who would use the space to provide wraparound services to support families.

Currently, 17 partners have signed up to provide services at the Resource Center South, but only four host weekly programming — a grocery store-like food pantry, counseling sessions, and after-school fine arts and cooking classes.

In addition, DISD staff lead regular English as a Second Language (ESL) classes, and resource center staff offer help with applications for government assistance.

Partners can use the flex space (no permanent office or storage space) after they apply and undergo a review by DISD and its legal team to determine whether their services align with families’ needs and fall within specific categories, such as job training, or access to health care. 

As part of the agreement, Dallas ISD requires their resource center partners to offer services at no cost to the district or to families, so any staff time or supplies must come out of the partner’s wallet. And because DISD opens its resource centers only to families whose students are enrolled in one of their schools, partners can’t use the space to serve community members without school-age children, or whose children attend non-DISD schools.  

The center’s general operating hours are weekdays from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Roughly five to 10 of those 45 hours have scheduled programming, according to the Resource Center South’s calendar. Dallas ISD’s announcement of the center pledged “non-traditional working hours and evening programming” to “accommodate its diverse community,” yet one year later, the calendar shows few after-hours or weekend activities other than Thursdays after school.

The renovated center shares the historic J.J. Rhoads campus with the pre-K center, and encompasses part of the first floor and much of the second. It includes a teaching kitchen, a podcast studio and a room for young children to play while their parents take classes.

So far, the kitchen hosts one class a week; the podcast studio hasn’t yet seen a recording session; and events over the last several months note that childcare is not available. Programs with childcare will be noted on flyers.

Free groceries in high demand at Resource Center South 

Tiphanie Sanders Wright, the manager of Resource Center South, says about 50 South Dallas families consistently attend programs and utilize the services offered.  

The most popular resource at the center is a food pantry set up like a grocery store where DISD families can pick up produce, cereal and pantry items. Through a partnership with Brother Bill’s Helping Hand and the North Texas Food Bank, registered families can “shop” up to twice a month.

Each two-hour grocery store window sees up to 150 shoppers. On weeks when the grocery store is open twice, the center has drawn as many as 280 families, Wright says, exponentially increasing the number of families they typically serve.

“Access to fresh produce and healthy food” was community members’ top ask of Dallas ISD during 2020 discussions determining what the resource center should prioritize. Only one traditional format grocery store remains in all of South Dallas — the Fiesta on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard across the street from Fair Park.

Wright says their main method to spread the word about services is through emailed newsletters, which parents and guardians automatically receive after registering, as well as social media, posters at South Dallas schools, and word-of-mouth. 

“Our biggest thing is making sure we are able to help families in whatever way we can,” Wright says. “We want more people to know about us and use the resources we have here to help them out, and we update our social media and newsletters to get more families in the door.”

How Dallas ISD families can access the Resource Center South

Parents and guardians can sign up for an account and register for events with their Dallas ISD Powerschool login and password.

A calendar shows the current offerings each week, including:

• A food pantry set up like a grocery store through a partnership with Brother Bill’s Helping Hand and the North Texas Food Bank. Registered families can grab food essentials “shop” up to twice a month, typically on Wednesday mornings, 9-11 a.m. or Thursday afternoons, 3:30-5:30 p.m.
• Free hour-long counseling sessions through Family Tree Counseling. Sessions can be individualized or for families, can take place in-person or virtually, and the State of Texas will pay for up to six per year, per family. 
• After-school art, music and dance classes on Thursdays with the Junior Players.
• Assistance on Tuesday mornings with federal applications such as Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), Supplemental Assistance Program  (SNAP), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and Medicaid.
• English as a Second Language (ESL) classes every Tuesday and Thursday mornings. Dallas ISD staff teach reading, writing, speaking and listening skills, with all instructional materials provided. 

Questions? Call the Resource Center South at 972.749.1082 or visit during operating hours, 8 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday through Friday, at 4401 South Second Avenue, Dallas, TX 75210.