Announcing our newest team member

We are thrilled to welcome Xavier Cason as our new Director of Community Schools and School Transformation. In this role, Mr. Cason will be leading the Community Schools initiative in Durham, supporting Community School pilots, and scaling transformative practices to schools across the district. 

Mr. Cason brings to this work over 32 years as an educator and leader, including at Hillside High School and NC Central University. He is currently a Ph.D. student at NC State University studying Education Evaluation and Policy Analysis. In addition, he serves on the DPS Board of Education. Mr. Cason and his wife Cynthia have two adult children who are proud DPS graduates and two grandchildren who are current Durham Public Schools students. 

We believe that Community Schools is a powerful and promising strategy for school transformation. The Community Schools approach uses research-based and innovative practices to achieve results that go beyond test scores and focuses on the whole child. The success of the Community Schools model depends on collaborative leadership from administrators, teachers, support staff, families, youth, and community partners. 

Here at DPS Foundation, we are incubating this approach in Durham with funding from Durham Public Schools and Durham County. We cannot imagine a stronger leader to guide and grow it than Xavier Cason, who has been a part of Community Schools work since it launched in Durham in 2018. A Community Schools Advisory committee that includes representatives from DPS, Durham County, Durham City, NC Central University, Duke University, UNC-Chapel Hill, Durham Association of Educators and other partners helps guide this work. 

Mr. Cason is the second full-time hire for us as an organization. We're incredibly excited to have him both leading Community Schools in Durham and also serving as a leader for the DPS Foundation.