The Kinkaid School

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The Kinkaid School

Lux per Scientiam (Light through Knowledge)
Established	1906
School type	Independent Co-educational Non-residential
Religious affiliation	None
Headmaster	Donald C. North
Location	Piney Point Village, Texas, United States
Campus	Urban
Enrollment	1,280
Faculty	160 Men and Women
Average class size	12 (Upper School)
Student:teacher ratio	1:8
Average SAT scores (2004-2005)	1333
Athletics	Male and Female Varsity and Junior Varsity: Southwest Preparatory Conference
Color(s)	Purple Gold
Mascot	Falcon
Conference	Southwest Preparatory Conference
Homepage	http://www.kinkaid.org

The Kinkaid School is a a K-12 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 Frances Hopper.

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.

Every spring, the school holds the annual Field Day celebration. This is the only regular event that the entire student body attends on the football field. The students partake in various athletic events, followed by a carnival on adjacent fields.

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. Elementary school scenes in the movie Rushmore were filmed at Kinkaid at the now non-existent old Lower School.

History

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 [1].

The school's second location was at the intersection of Montrose and Graustark in the Neartown neighborhood.

Since 1957 and as of 2006, the school is in a forty-acre site in [2] the city of Piney Point Village, an enclave of Houston, at the junction of Kinkaid School Drive and San Felipe

The school has had four headmasters in its history.

Margaret Kinkaid, the founder, served as the first headmistress [3]. Kinkaid was a public school teacher before she founded The Kinkaid School. Kinkaid left the public school system when she discovered that women were not welcome as public school teachers in her school district.

Kinkaid was replaced by John Cooper. Glen Ballard succeeded Cooper in the late 1980s when Cooper left to found The John Cooper School in The Woodlands, unincorporated Montgomery County, Texas. The current headmaster is Don North.

Bessie M. Hickman, a principal of Houston's J. Will Jones Elementary School, gave a monument to Kinkaid; Hunter Kinkaid, Margaret Kinkaid's son, attended Jones. Hunter Kinkaid died before he reached adulthood. Margaret Kinkaid gave a sundial to her son's school [4].

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. At the Gala, President George W. Bush and his wife Laura Bush were made Honorary Distinguished Alumni for their dedication to Kinkaid.