Company Profile
Chinquapin Preparatory School
Company Overview
Founded in 1969 by a former Chair of the English Department at Houston’s St. John’s School, Chinquapin Prep is a nonprofit college-preparatory school. More than 150 low-income, academically promising and motivated Houston-area students comprise the 6th through 12th grades. All students are admitted through a competitive process and they must perform at an acceptable level to retain their place at the school. High school boys are required to live on campus (boarding Monday through Friday), and most high school girls choose to live on campus. Some middle school boys choose to live on campus, and middle school girls may be allowed to live on campus in extenuating circumstances with school approval. All other students are transported daily to and from centrally located bus stops throughout the Houston area.
As greater Houston’s first private college-preparatory school for underserved youth, Chinquapin has a 50-year proven track record of successfully preparing able and motivated students for college and beyond. The school’s rigorous curriculum meets and usually exceeds state requirements in every subject and is enriched by numerous elective and extracurricular offerings. Acceptance by at least one four-year college or university is a graduation requirement. Chinquapin graduates attend the nation’s finest colleges and universities, including Columbia, Duke, Harvard, Notre Dame, Rice, Smith, Stanford, Texas A&M, and the University of Texas, among others. Over eighty-five percent of the school’s alumni have graduated from a four-year college or university in the last three decades.
Chinquapin’s 60-acre campus, situated 25 miles from downtown Houston, provides a homelike setting that includes daily meals with faculty and staff. Almost all full-time faculty and many staff live on campus. In keeping with the school’s motto – quid pro quo, or “something for something” by earning what one receives – students help to maintain the buildings and grounds during daily chore periods. Similarly, the school emphasizes the importance of volunteerism and giving back to the community through frequent service projects.
Chinquapin is almost entirely funded by donations from individuals, organizations, and foundations. Parents pay a token sliding scale tuition that, on average, covers about 3 percent of the annual cost of educating each student.
Company History
Founder Bob Moore retired as the school’s Director in 1983 and was succeeded by Bill Heinzerling, a former St. John’s student and a graduate of Stanford and Harvard. At their retirement in July 2009, Bill and his wife, Kathy – his Co-Director – had served the school with distinction for more than 30 years. Bill Heinzerling returned as Interim Director in January 2012 (succeeding Ray Griffin) and helped transition to the school’s current Director, Dr. Laura Henry beginning in the fall of 2012.