The Kinkaid School

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it — and it's a story worth tellin'. Now, most great institutions start with some grand vision, a ribbon-cutting, maybe a brass band. The Kinkaid School started with seven children sitting in a dining room.

Seven kindergartners, a dining room table, and a woman who had been told she couldn't teach. Margaret Hunter Kinkaid wanted to teach in the public schools of Houston. The year was 1906.

But there was a regulation on the books — one of those rules that sounds like it couldn't possibly be real — prohibiting married women from working as instructors in the public schools. Mrs. Kinkaid was a married woman.

So the public schools said no. She said fine. I'll start my own.

She began teaching students in her home, right there at the corner of San Jacinto and Elgin streets. Seven kindergarten students. A dining room.

That was the whole operation. No campus, no board of trustees, no endowment. Just Mrs.

Kinkaid and seven children and the particular kind of stubbornness that builds something lasting. The school grew. It grew enough that the Kinkaid Cottage itself had to be raised up off the ground so a brand new first floor could be constructed underneath it — just to make room for classrooms.

Think about that a moment. The building went up so the school could go down into it. By 1924, enrollment demands and administrative responsibilities had grown large enough that a school board was organized.

Plans were drawn up for a new facility at the corner of Richmond and Graustark. A high school program was added soon after. What started with seven children in a dining room now had a campus, a board, and students all the way through high school.

Through all of it, Mrs. Kinkaid kept leading. The school developed innovative educational programs adapted from her own ideas and observations, and in time the Kinkaid School became nationally known.

Not just Houston-known. Nationally known. She retired shortly before her death in 1951.

John H. Cooper succeeded her, and under his administration the present campus was developed. The oldest private non-parochial school in Houston.

Built from a regulation that said no, a dining room that said why not, and one woman who turned both of those things into something that has sent prominent business and professional leaders out into the world ever since. Seven kids in a dining room. Not a bad place to start.

What the marker says

The oldest private non-parochial school in Houston, the Kinkaid School was started in 1906 by Margaret Hunter Kinkaid. Unable to teach in the public schools because of a regulation prohibiting married women instructors, Mrs. Kinkaid began teaching students in her home at the corner of San Jacinto and Elgin streets. The first pupils were seven kindergarten students who met in her dining room. As the school grew, the Kinkaid Cottage was raised and a new first floor was constructed to provide classroom space. In order to meet increased enrollment demands and administrative responsibilities, a school board was organized in 1924 and plans were begun for a new facility at the corner of Richmond and Graustark. A high school program was added soon after. With the continued leadership of Mrs. Kinkaid and the development of innovative educational programs adapted from her ideas and observations, the school became nationally known. Mrs. Kinkaid retired shortly before her death in 1951 and was succeeded by John H. Cooper, under who administration the present campus was developed. A leader in quality education, the Kinkaid School has been the alma mater of many prominent business and professional leaders.