Oak Cliff’s newest high school, the Kathlyn Joy Gilliam Collegiate Academy, is under construction and is set to open Aug. 1.
A DISD “early college” high school, it is located near the UNT Dallas campus. Students complete high school and as many as 60 hours of college credit simultaneously. The program is geared for kids who would be first-generation college students.
The $110,000-square-foot school costs $22 million, from 2008 bond election funds. It will serve 350 students.
The building was designed to feel like a college campus. It has 25 classrooms, which all face the Dallas skyline; a lecture hall/theater and an amphitheater.
Here’s how a media release from UNT Dallas explains other features in the building:
“But the most impressive part is the large atrium that includes dining space, a commons area and a unique structure at the far end called ‘the perch’. Above the library, the perch is a collaboration space housing meeting rooms and offices for teachers, the school counselor and associate principals.”
A view of the new Kathlyn Joy Gilliam high school, which is under construction. "The perch" is the yellow box at top.
From left to right: Gilliam Collegiate Academy principal Gayle Ferguson Smith, counselor Lenora Brown, facilities supervisor Lasandra Coleman, and office manager Blanca Vasquez
