Rainard School for Gifted Students is a private school located in
Houston, Texas
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
. Since its founding in 1986, Rainard has provided unique intellectual and creative opportunities to gifted students which it defines as those who "typically possess exceptional abilities and potential in one or more areas." The school currently offers enrollment from preschool through 8th grade.
The Rainard School for Gifted Students is located outside
Beltway 8
Beltway 8 (BW8), the Sam Houston Parkway, along with the Sam Houston Tollway, is an beltway around the city of Houston, Texas, United States, lying entirely within Harris County.
Beltway 8, a state highway maintained by the Texas ...
and north of
Interstate 10
Interstate 10 (I-10) is the southernmost cross-country highway in the American Interstate Highway System. I-10 is the fourth-longest Interstate in the United States at , following I-90, I-80, and I-40. This freeway is part of the originally pl ...
in an outlying portion of western Houston, in an area known as
Spring Branch.
The school
Rainard was founded by Lorraine Bouchard, Ed D., in 1986. After 19 years at its former location at 13922 Old Katy Road, The Rainard School moved to a new four-acre wooded campus at 11059 Timberline in fall 2005. Purchased by Rainard in 2004, the campus was formerly that of
The Parish School
The Parish School is a private, non-profit school located in Houston, Texas, United States. It is adjacent to the Spring Branch district. .
The school was renamed "Rainard School for Gifted Students" in 2010. The school is the only non-profit 501c(3) school in the Houston area totally devoted to gifted students.
In 1996, 2006, and 2015, respectively, it added a middle school, a high school, and a preschool. By 2019 its high school had closed and Rainard was now a K-8 school.
The current Head of School is Dr. Tara Tomicic.
Curriculum
Gifted students require special individual curricula because of the imbalance between intellectual skills for their age and the social age skills and emotional age skills they possess. If their special needs are not met, these students are subject to various vulnerabilities that can result in the student not realizing their full potential or face significant social or emotional challenges.
Classes are multi-age, and multi-level to help address their asynchronous development with a given
classroom
A classroom or schoolroom is a learning space in which both children and adults learn. Classrooms are found in educational institutions of all kinds, ranging from preschools to universities, and may also be found in other places where education ...
spanning three to four traditional grade levels. The school has a target of a maximum 10 to 1 student-to-teacher ratio in the lower school and 9 to 1 in the middle school and high school. As of 2023, the school's total enrollment is approximately 34 students.
Summer program
Rainard also offers a gifted and talented summer program called Summer Incitement for students from years of age through 8th grade.
References
External links
The Rainard School
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rainard School, The
Private K–8 schools in Houston
Private K–12 schools in Houston
1986 establishments in Texas
Educational institutions established in 1986