Our Story

Long before becoming Chinquapin’s Co-Directors, Kathy and Bill Heinzerling understood the importance of providing educational opportunities to motivated students from under-resourced communities and schools. For over thirty years at Chinquapin, they honed their skills in helping others realize their full potential.

Bob Moore, Chinquapin’s founder, had been Bill’s favorite teacher and, ultimately, his boss and mentor at both St. John’s School and Chinquapin. After Bill graduated from Stanford in 1968 and was preparing to start a job with VISTA in Colorado, Bob called and offered him a position teaching English at St. John’s to replace a teacher who had resigned just two months into the school year. 

Working for Bob would be a dream come true for Bill, who says Bob was the best teacher he ever had. Bob was an American literature expert and an inspiring, passionate classroom teacher with incredible wit and a sense of humor. He was also very adept at awakening his students to the social and economic injustices in the world. On top of all of that, he was the hardest-working and least materialistic person Bill had ever met. Bob resigned from St. John’s and founded Chinquapin in 1969, seeking to offer the benefits of an excellent college and life preparatory education for students who could not attend St. John’s.

Bill joined Bob for Chinquapin’s first year on Trinity Bay east of Baytown and later earned a graduate degree in education from Harvard. He then returned to Colorado to help build the Boulder Valley Institute, an experiential educational program focused on farming, construction, mechanics, the environment, outdoor leadership training, and adolescent development. Bill and Kathy met there and soon married.

Fast forward to the spring of 1978 when Bob called Bill again and asked him to consider returning to Houston to resume teaching at Chinquapin and eventually take over running the school (Bob planned to retire in 1983). 

Bob hired Kathy to teach science to the entire school. Kathy immediately fell in love with Chinquapin, the school’s philosophy, and its students, and she also saw the benefits of having her kids grow up in an environment that wasn’t so cloistered. 

After years in the classroom, Kathy transitioned to a more outward-facing role, helping with Chinquapin’s fundraising events, recruiting, campus expansion, and alumni relations. But she continued to teach her 7th-grade Life Science and senior Environmental Studies classes. Bill originally taught English, history, and math classes and coached basketball and tennis, but after becoming Director in 1983, he reduced his teaching and coaching loads to focus on continuing to build upon the successes and founding principles of the school that Bob and his wife Maxine had created fourteen years before. He also played the role of Mr. Fix-It, with the constant maintenance and repair of the campus. 

Chinquapin’s small size allowed Kathy and Bill to get to know every student and their families, building strong relationships and mutual respect. They became second parents to generations of Chinquapin students and alumni, and these bonds kept them at Chinquapin for over three decades. In the mid-2000s, they recognized the need for a succession plan, and after thirty years of service, they stepped away from day-to-day operations. However, they remain deeply committed to Chinquapin’s mission and continue to invest in the school in myriad ways.