Today we’d like to introduce you to Terry and Cathy Abercrombie.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
Our family moved to Houston in 1969. My sister soon enrolled in a very large and somewhat overwhelming Cy-Fair ISD elementary school. I was 5 and at the time, the local public schools did not have a Kindergarten program. In addition, the neighborhood that we moved to did not have any children my age to socialize with nearby.
My mother, Cathy Abercrombie had taught first grade for eight years in Texas and New Mexico and soon discovered that there were many other folks in the same position. She easily encouraged prekindergarten and kindergarten students to attend class in a rented church facility and in the course of several years was able to purchase property and build her first preschool facility on Woerner Road in 1977. With that campus full to capacity, Cathy took the opportunity to expand and built a new preschool campus at 17102 Theiss Mail Route Road in 1982. After several successful years of operating as a preschool, the attending families begin requesting that she add elementary classes. When all of the current classrooms were full, she was able to acquire the adjoining property and built her first elementary building in 1990.
It was a family endeavor from the beginning, with each member involved in either attending, teaching, cleaning or maintaining the facilities. She is proud that all three of her grandchildren attended Abercrombie Academy.
I became an active administrator for Abercrombie Academy in 1995 and with my mother’s retirement in 2011, I am currently the only active family member. As a second-generation owner, I take great pride in our highly qualified and dedicated staff, our ever-evolving curriculum, our fantastic students and their devoted families. It is thrilling to now serve the second-generation Abercrombie students attending in the classrooms their parents attended and hear of all of the outstanding accolades our alumni have achieved.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Abercrombie Academy is located in the midst of several, well recognized school districts; Klein, Tomball, Cy-Fair and Spring. We constantly strive to keep a meaningful and challenging academic curriculum that will retain and attract new students from these districts. Our effective competition has been the blessing of our highly qualified, competent and nurturing teachers.
Please tell us about Abercrombie Academy.
Abercrombie Academy is a nonsectarian, private 3-year preschool through 5th grade elementary school. We have been accredited with the Texas Alliance of Accredited Private Schools since 1988. Abercrombie has embraced the idea of self-contained classrooms to maximize instructional time and effectiveness. In addition to retaining old concepts like phonics, writing and social studies, we have been able to continue to incorporate field trips, performances and community service opportunities to supplement our rigorous academic curriculum. In addition to our core subjects, students receive instruction in Art, Music, Computer skills, Spanish, Physical Education and Library.
Our school has been sanctioned as a “No Place for Hate” campus by the Anti-Defamation League. We have a fantastically active PTO and encourage all of our families to join and become involved in the many opportunities that help make Abercrombie the premier private school in Northwest Houston for almost a half century!
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
According to Cathy, if she had to start over, the one thing she would do differently would be to “apply for a nonprofit 501(c)(3) status”. This non-profit status would exempt the entity from federal, state and local taxes and also permits the school to accept contributions which are in turn tax-deductible to the extent provided by law. This would potentially put more funds into a tight operating budget and give the school more opportunity to enhance the experience of the students.
Contact Info:
- Address: 17102 Theiss Mail Route Rd.,
Spring, TX 77379 - Website: www.abercrombieacademy.com
- Phone: 281-374-1730
- Email: info@abercrombieacademy.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/abercrombieacademy/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/abercrombie-academy-spring
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