Rocketship Public Schools
Rocketship Dennis Dunkins Elementary School
Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker on Tuesday was joined by tennis champion Andre Agassi, community leaders, and local dignitaries to formally open the Rocketship Public Schools Texas Dennis Dunkins Elementary, a charter school campus serving students in the Stop Six neighborhood.
The 46,000-square-foot campus serves 350 students in pre-kindergarten to third grade and is on its way to eventually serving students through fifth grade.
The school was developed for Rocketship by the Turner-Agassi Education Facilities Fund, a mission-driven social impact investment fund that provides resources and real estate expertise to high-performing charter school operators across the nation.
“Great public schools are vital to the health of our communities and our city,” Parker said in a statement. “The city of Fort Worth is delighted to welcome Rocketship Public Schools Texas’s flagship school, Dennis Dunkins Elementary. Education is an engine of economic development, and I applaud Rocketship and the Turner-Agassi Education Facilities Fund for fueling the transformation of Stop Six and helping young people achieve their fullest potential.”
The school was opened in August. It features 22 classrooms — including two learning labs, cafeteria and gymnasium structures that serve as storm shelters, parents’ room, and a playground.
“Rocketship Texas is tapping into the cultural capital of this great community to partner with parents to co-create a dynamic and rigorous learning environment,” said Rocketship Texas Superintendent SaJade Miller. “By exclusively serving families at the elementary level, our model is designed to help improve the entire public education system in Tarrant County by setting students up for success in middle and high school, and well beyond. We do this through genuine parent partnership and a learning environment focused on unleashing the full potential of every individual student.”
The school is located on East Berry Street. For more information, go here.
The school’s namesake, Dennis Dunkins, who died in 2021, was a longtime educator in Fort Worth. In 1986, Dunkins and 12 other Black educators founded the Texas Alliance of Black School Educators. Dunkins, who worked in the district from 1980-2009, is remembered for his contribution to the creation of magnet programs in Fort Worth school district high schools and for organizing college visits to Historically Black Colleges and Universities for school district students, according to an obituary published by the school district.
“We’re proud that our investment is enabling this best-in-class charter school operator to create outstanding results for students, families, and the entire community,” said Bobby Turner, the fund’s co-managing partner and CEO of Turner Impact Capital. “Our work with Rocketship Public Schools Texas exemplifies the sustainable, positive impact that our fund is committed to creating in Fort Worth and around the nation.”
According to a press release, Rocketship Public Schools Texas was founded on the core pillars of the organization’s national model: parent power, personalized learning, and talent development.
“We opened the first Rocketship Texas school to serve the Stop Six neighborhood because the community came together to demand change in the quality of local public school options,” said Rocketship Dennis Dunkins Principal Dr. Christina Hanson. “Like many historically Black neighborhoods across the country, this is a community with great pride, but in need of additional resources. We’re excited to be a key part of several new investments designed to improve the quality of life and access to opportunities for families in this part of Fort Worth.”
A joint venture of Turner Impact Capital and Agassi Ventures, Turner‐Agassi is backed by a group of institutional investors who share a commitment to effecting positive societal change in America’s urban centers. Securing high‐quality, long‐term facilities is often one of the greatest impediments faced by charter school leaders. Turner‐Agassi provides resources, development experience, and a passion for educational excellence to enable top school operators to focus on their first priority: helping students succeed.
“All students deserve a school environment that sets them up for future success. That means creating a safe, welcoming environment that promotes exploration and learning,” said Andre Agassi, the fund’s Co-Managing Partner, CEO of Agassi/Graf Holdings, and the chairman of the board of the Andre Agassi Foundation for Education. “I have no doubt Rocketship Dennis Dunkins Elementary will create lasting benefits for thousands of young scholars who will be passing through its doors in the years ahead.”
Turner-Agassi is managed by Turner Impact Capital, one of the nation’s leading investment firms dedicated to social impact. Since opening its doors in 2014, Turner Impact Capital has made significant investments to address three core challenges: K-12 public education, affordable workforce housing, and outcome-based healthcare in underserved urban communities.