The Kessler School announced on April 18 that construction had begun for its new campus in North Oak Cliff. The private school has purchased a nearly-100-year-old neoclassical building that will be renovated this year in anticipation of accepting students by fall 2022. The massive brick building is the former home of the Calvary Baptist Church of Oak Cliff.
Cooper Koch, president of The Kessler School’s Board of Trustees, told The Dallas Express that the project will not only expand the school but preserve the church structure.
“By purchasing and repurposing the nearly-century-old, neoclassical church campus, we have saved it from almost certain demolition,” Koch said. “The property is not protected by official historic designation and, by right, could be bulldozed to make way for nearly a dozen single-family homes — a likely outcome in rapidly gentrifying North Oak Cliff.”
The renovations will include updating the building to take advantage of modern technologies, modifying and enhancing entry and exit points for safety and accessibility, and constructing athletic fields and other amenities. Key features of the design will be a forest-themed library and an interior courtyard space.
The campus will host pre-K through 8th-grade students and allow the thriving private school to enroll more students than previously possible.
The Kessler School purchased the property for the new location in 2020 and anticipated beginning classes in fall 2021. Due to the coronavirus pandemic and several time-consuming steps to ensure the safety of the building, move-in is about 1 year behind schedule.
“Our new campus will allow The Kessler School to continue to build on our success in creating a ‘Southern Star’ of private education in Dallas that reflects the diverse, creative, progressive Oak Cliff community,” said Head of School Vanessa Ullmann.
The first phase of construction, now underway, will focus on repurposing several of the original areas of the former church, like converting the original sanctuary into a multi-use gymnasium and performing arts space.
Some modifications made to the building in the 1960s will be removed, including the breeze block bricks that create a facade covering the original columns.
The building has already undergone significant renovations to remove asbestos and reinforce the structure. It was originally constructed in 1924 and added onto in 1953 with the construction of an education annex.
The Dallas Business Journal named The Kessler School renovation one of the region’s top projects in 2020. The school was also noted as one of the top Community Impact projects in April 2021 by D CEO Magazine, a sister publication of D Magazine.
“The Kessler School had to be in a specific geographic area, needed more space — both indoors and outdoors — to be able to increase enrollment and expand programs,” Solender said in a statement to CultureMap Dallas in October 2020. “When we walked into this historic church, we knew it was the perfect place.”
The Kessler School currently leases 12,000 square feet of space from the Kessler Park United Methodist Church. The new campus will provide the school with 60,000 square feet of space and allow the private school to further advance and develop educational programs.
