The Kinkaid School

The Kinkaid School
Lux per Scientiam (Light through Knowledge)
Location
Houston, Texas, United States
Coordinates	29.751529°N 95.511720°W / 29.751529; -95.511720
Information
Type	Independent Co-educational Non-residential
Religious affiliation(s)	None
Established	1906
Headmaster	Donald C. North
Faculty	160 Men and Women
Enrollment	1,280
Average class size	12 (Upper School)
Student to teacher ratio	1:18
Campus	Urban
Color(s)	Purple and gold
Athletics	Male and Female Varsity and Junior Varsity: Southwest Preparatory Conference
Athletics conference	Southwest Preparatory Conference
Mascot	Falcon
Average SAT scores	2040
Average ACT scores	30
Website	http://www.kinkaid.org

The Kinkaid School is a K-12 non-sectarian school in Piney Point Village, Texas, United States.

The Kinkaid School is the oldest independent coeducational school in the Houston, Texas area (Greater Houston). The student body is divided into the Lower School (Pre-K - 4th Grade), the Middle School (5th grade - 8th grade) and the Upper School (9th grade - 12th grade). The school motto is: "Lux per Scientiam" meaning, "Light through Knowledge." The school colors are purple and gold, and the school mascot is the falcon.

The current headmaster is Don North. The headmaster is aided by and is held accountable to a self-perpetuating Board of Trustees, which draws its members from alumni, parents, and other friends and community leaders. The current chairman of the Board is E. Staman Ogilvie.

A unique aspect of Kinkaid's Upper School is its Interim Term, which provides three weeks in January for teacher-designed and student-selected curricula. Teachers at the school take the opportunity to provide classes that they would otherwise not be able to teach, either for lack of time or lack of material. Such classes include military histories of the Civil War and World War II, introductory courses in digital programming and engineering, courses in photography and art history, and, famously, a course in Disney films. Students may also go on international trips sponsored by the school, such as tours of China, Italy, and Greece; homestays in Mexico and France are also possibilities. Finally, the school provides connections with companies throughout the greater Houston area and, if the students prefer, throughout the world, in which its senior students may find internships.

Sports

Kinkaid sports teams compete in the Southwest Preparatory Conference of the Independent Schools Association of the Southwest. A big alumni event is the Kinkaid vs. St. John's School football game played each year at Rice Stadium, with the winning record belonging to Kinkaid. Kinkaid offers multiple sports per each sports season (fall, winter, and spring). In the fall they offer football (boys only), cross country, volleyball, cheerleading, and field hockey (girls only). In the winter they offer soccer, basketball, wrestling (boys only), and swimming. In the spring they offer lacrosse, baseball (boys only), softball (girls only), track & field, tennis, and golf.

History

Entrance to The Kinkaid School

The Kinkaid School was founded in 1906 by Margaret Hunter Kinkaid. When the school was first established, it was located in the dining room of Kinkaid's House, which was located at the intersection of Elgin and San Jacinto in what is now Midtown Houston. Tuition at the school ranged from $90.00 per year for first and second grades to $130.00 per year for sixth graders. Tuition is now $14, 740 for Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten, $15,790 for Grades 1 through 4, $18, 270 for Grades 5 through 8, and $19, 740 for Grades 9 through 12. Books, lunch, and a one-time $1000 new student fee are not included. is Kinkaid's current school song, Kinkaid, My Own Kinkaid, was written by Charlotte Williams Darby and Elizabeth Law, sixth grade Kinkaid students, and was adopted by Mrs. Kinkaid for the school in 1921.

The Richmond Campus

The school's second location was at the intersection of Richmond and Graustark in the Neartown neighborhood. The school moved to this location in the fall of 1924. The school had its first Open House that year to celebrate the new facility. This tradition continues today. Kinkaid also added its upper school program beginning in the late 1920s. However, after more than thirty years, the school eventually outgrew its campus and was forced to look for a new location. After considering locations in Afton Oaks and other areas, it was eventually decided that a parcel of land in Piney Point Village would be purchased. When the school moved, most of the buildings that Kinkaid had built on the Richmond campus were torn down by the new tenants. Some of the old Kinkaid buildings remained for many years, but all had been torn down by 2005.

Piney Point Village Campus

Since 1957 and through the present day, the school has been situated on a 40-acre (160,000 m²) site in the city of Piney Point Village, an enclave of Houston, at the junction of 201 Kinkaid School Drive and San Felipe. Kinkaid introduced uniforms for its lower and middle school students beginning in the early 1960s. Upper school students have never been required to wear uniforms. Beginning in 1970, Kinkaid adopted what was known as an "open enrollment" policy.

Beginning in the early 1990s, the campus began a large construction program in an effort to modernize its facilities, which had not been truly updated since they were initially constructed in the 1950s. A brand new lower school building was constructed, and the old building was torn down, along with the "little" gym and lower school art and science buildings. A new middle school building was also constructed, and the existing upper school was expanded into the old middle school building. Further, a new auditorium and cafeteria were built, and the remaining campus buildings were renovated.

In additional the physical changes on campus, the fifth grade was moved from lower school to middle school.

Current and prior headmasters

The school has had four headmasters in its history.

Margaret Kinkaid, the school's founder, served as the first headmistress. Kinkaid was a public school teacher before she founded The Kinkaid School. Kinkaid left the public school system when she discovered that married women were not welcome as public school teachers in her school district. Mrs. Kinkaid was pivotal in the early growth of Kinkaid, and the move to the school's Richmond campus. Mrs. Kinkaid was the headmistress of the school from its founding until 1951. At that time, both she and her son William retired from their duties at Kinkaid.

Kinkaid was replaced by John Cooper, who stayed with the school for over two decades. It was Mr. Cooper who helped move the campus from its Richmond location to the current Memorial site. In his later years, he was the co-founder and namesake of The John Cooper School in The Woodlands.

Glenn Ballard succeeded Mr. Cooper in 1979 when Cooper retired. Mr. Ballard oversaw much of the school's renovation and expansion beginning in the early 1990s, along with handling much of the fundraising for the project. He retired in 1996.

The current headmaster is Don North.

Prior to the major renovations at the school during the 1990s, the headmaster lived in a house located on the Kinkaid campus. It was decided during the renovations that the headmaster's house should be converted into a place for the various school groups to meet, and that would allow for a dedicated spot for fundraising events and parties to be held. The headmaster's house was relocated to a home just outside Kinkaid.

Centennial

The 2005-2006 school year was notable as it signified Kinkaid's Centennial Year. This celebration was marked by a number of special events, including an alumni theatrical review, a special reunion weekend surrounding the St. John's game, a Centennial alumni art show, and finally a Centennial Gala.

2009 Controversy

On November 11, 2009, a Kinkaid parent, Hugh "Skip" McGee III, sent an irate letter (entitled "The Tipping Point") to the school's board of directors. In the letter, McGee, Head of the Global Investment Banking Division at Barclays Capital and one of Wall Street's highest paid bankers, attacked the school's administration for altering a previously planned student pep rally. McGee went on to criticize one of the teachers whom he believed to be behind the changes; he also complained that the history teacher had reduced his 11th grade son, John Ed, to tears with a comment about investment banking. The controversy was covered in the March 2011 edition of Texas Monthly. Kinkaid alumnus and former interim-term teacher Robert L. Bradley Jr. also published an essay on the controversy.

In popular culture

Philip Roth's novel, Exit Ghost, features a character who is described as having been a valedictorian at Kinkaid, prior to attending Harvard.

In 1998, the movie Rushmore filmed scenes at Kinkaid. Saint John's alumnus Wes Anderson used the now demolished Lower School Building for scenes set in an elementary school.

Notable Alumni

• George W. Bush
• Jeb Bush
• James A. Baker III
• Adam Ereli
• Clark Kent Ervin
• William P. Hobby Jr.
• John Cassidy
• Jeff Martin
• Carolyn McCormick
• Patrick F. Taylor
• David Hornsby

External links

• The Kinkaid School
• Kinkaid School handbooks
• Architectural information on the Kinkaid Theatre's Brown Auditorium
• Article from Stage Directions magazine about the Kinkaid Theatre