A community looks out for its members. It lends a helping hand where one is needed. With the opening of VISD Connections, Victoria ISD aims to be that helping hand for the VISD community.
The Victoria Independent School District invites VISD families, community members, and organizations to attend the grand opening of the VISD Connections center on Thursday, August 4.
VISD Connections is a family resource center for district students, families, and community members to connect that will provide many different amenities and resources to meet the needs of our district families, students, and community members.
This new facility will include a food pantry and clothing closet on-site, and we invite families to complete a needs assessment to take advantage of these services.
Our food pantry is well stocked thanks to donations from various community partners and significant contributions from the Food Bank of the Golden Crescent.VISD Connections has the capability to offer families more than non-perishable items with our refrigeration and freezer capabilities.
Through generous donations from the community, clothing items, shoes, and school supplies are available to families in need. Through funding from our partner, Driscoll Health Plan, VISD Connections is also able to offer a hygiene closet with in-demand toiletry items.
We know that reading is fundamental to a child’s success, and with that in mind, VISD Connections offers a lending library with a variety of books for families to take advantage of throughout the year. As families stop by, we hope they will check out a book or two. A family literacy course will also be offered in the fall to support parents in establishing good reading practices at home.
VISD Connections is founded on convenient access to services offered in the district. Providing easy and direct access to community organizations is a goal for this one-stop-shop hub of resources. We recognize that generally, our students and families would have to travel across the city to access services, so community organizations will be available at VISD Connections on a rotating basis.
VISD Connections will also offer the availability of a variety of family education sessions and programs intended to assist in the continued enhancement of a parent’s involvement in their child’s education, including lunch and learns, toddler time, seminars for supporting successful families, a fatherhood initiative, and make, take, and teach activities to name a few.
VISD Volunteers in Public Schools Program (VIPS) will be housed in VISD Connections. We are ramping up our volunteer program this school year and plan on offering multiple opportunities to utilize your skill set throughout the district. We are interested in connecting your talents and skills to a volunteer opportunity that we may not even know exists yet! For more information, please go to our website https://www.visd.net/page/volunteers, call us at VISD Connections, or stop by and talk with our VIPS Liaison.
Now that you know a little more about what VISD Connections is, we want our community at the Grand Opening and Ribbon Cutting that will be held on Thursday, August 4, from 4 to 6 p.m. There will be BIG surprises for everyone!
The first 500 families at the grand opening will receive a backpack from Driscoll Health, and there will be school supplies to give away as well. Families can sign up for fall semester education sessions, take advantage of the lending library, and discover the variety of services that are available throughout the Victoria community.
Because of the closure of the district’s Teen Parent Connection Center in 2019, there was a remaining balance of state-funded revenue. This balance allowed for the design of a premier family resource center that would connect families, educators, and community members.
The grand opening of VISD Connections will take place from 4 to 6 p.m., and the VISD Connections center will be located on the former Stroman Middle School campus at 3002 E. North Street, Suite J. Parking will be available at the parking lot north of the tennis courts on Ben Wilson.