School History
The Post Oak School was founded in 1963, serving children from 3 to 6 years of age, known as the Primary program. In the ensuing years, the school grew to include the Young Children’s Community (1966), Lower Elementary (1969), Upper Elementary (1976), Middle School (1980), and High School (2012).
Locations
The school has changed both name and location several times. Originally The Little School House (1963), it became The Montessori School House (1979), Post Oak Montessori School (1980), The Post Oak System (1981) and finally The Post Oak School (1985).
For nearly 20 years, the school occupied a house on Briar Ridge Drive. The school relocated to Harwin Drive (1981) and then to Gordon Elementary School, an unused HISD building (1985), while the facility in Bellaire was under construction. In that same year, the school moved across Bissonnet Street to its current location in a building that was specifically designed and built for its use. Houston’s Museum District was selected as the location for the High School, which opened in the fall of 2012 in a newly renovated open-concept environment. In 2016, a new High School building was completed on the Museum District Campus, and the Middle School relocated from the Bissonnet Campus to the previous High School building, creating an innovative center for adolescent education.
The original school house
Heads of School
Carol Ferguson was the founding directress and led the school from its inception until 1985. John Long became the third full-time, permanent head of school in 1995 until he retired in June 2016. In July 2016, Maura Joyce became head of school.
Read more about the history of Post Oak in our 2023 Summer Magazine, Roots (page 6).