Vibrant mural welcomes Cornerstone Crossroads Academy students to historic Phillis Wheatley campus

For more than a decade, the Phillis Wheatley Elementary School campus has remained largely untouched. Cornerstone Crossroads Academy bought the building from Dallas ISD five years ago, and just last week, the campus came back to life as students arrived for the first day of school. 

A vibrant mural, bright against the muted brick buildings and chain-link fences, greeted students as they walked toward the newly renovated gymnasium. A portrait of the school’s namesake, Phillis Wheatley, is painted in gray and muted browns, as she holds her quill, pondering. Beside the iconic enslaved poet, who became the first African American woman to be a published author, graduating students silhouetted in black paint celebrate their accomplishments.

“The purpose of this mural is to be a gift to the students and the community as a whole. For the school to thrive, the community has to thrive,” says Dallas artist Christalyn Peach. 

Peach was thrilled to be selected as the muralist and included students in the design. 

“The sole purpose of the organization is to get students to that next step in life, which is why I chose a space theme,” she says. “The sky’s the limit after you graduate.”

The City of Dallas Community Arts Pop-Up Cultural Center, in collaboration with Cornerstone Crossroads Academy and the City of Dallas Code Compliance office, commissioned the mural. The elementary school opened in 1922 for Black students and originally misspelled the iconic poet’s name, as did schools named for her across the country.

The school is a City of Dallas landmark located in South Dallas’ Wheatley Place, a neighborhood listed on the National Register of Historic Places and a City of Dallas Historic District. The landmark nomination form notes that “the school and park have been the center point of the community for many years.”

Phillis Wheatley Elementary has been vacant since 2012 after Dallas ISD closed the school because of dwindling enrollment. Students were bused to neighboring schools. Cornerstone Crossroads Academy purchased the property in 2019 to turn it into a faith-based second-chance high school that helps individuals aged 17-25 earn their GED or high school diploma. Their mission is to “develop urban youth through transformative education, equipping future leaders to impact their communities for Christ.”

Dallas resident Vernell Henderson remembers driving by the Phillis Wheatley school in the 1960s. She’s excited to see the campus come back to life. 

“I was 60 years old when I got my GED, so it makes me proud to see the academy here in this community,” Henderson says. “I’m excited to bring my daughter and my great-grandson to see this mural.”

Cornerstone Principal Warren Jones says the mural connects the past, present and future of the campus. 

“We needed this mural to reflect the historical background of CCA’s new home,” he says. “We don’t want to strip away the history here — we want to add to it and bring value to what’s already been established.”

Terri Gordon, a Cornerstone board member, says the mural represents “family, community, support and the belief that you can go as far as you want. There’s a future out there — you just need to reach for it.”

Cornerstone recently completed renovation of the Wheatley gym, where classes are being held. The school is raising money to renovate the main building, but they don’t have a timeline for the project.