Our Head of School Welcomes You
Welcome to Rainard a Houston Private School for Gifted Children.
Rainard continues to be the inspiring environment that it has been since its founding in 1986. It is a place where we are focused on the abilities and needs of gifted children. We are able to provide a place where students can learn in small classrooms, where they can play in puddles, where they can ask hard questions, where they can work with passionate teachers and where they can find joy in learning.
Please spend some time with us and determine if Rainard is a good fit for your child and family. If it is, I hope you’ll join us.
The Board of Directors are
Natalya Bichr
Natalya Bichr is an automotive services business owner, managing billing and finances for the business. She currently has two children attending Rainard, LIllian is 5 years old and has been at Rainard since 2017 and Adam who is 13 and has been at Rainard since 2014. Mrs. Bichr states that Rainard is and has been the safe haven for her son Adam who suffered bulling by peers and teachers before they came to Rainard. “I cannot imagine what would have happened if we did not find Rainard. When I send my kids to school, I know that they are getting great education and social acceptance.”
Cheherazade Renee Blair-Thomas
Cheherazade Renee Blair-Thomas is a Houston native. She attended Debakey High School (previously High School For the Health Professions). She graduated and continued her education at Texas Southern where she obtained a degree in Pharmacy. Mrs, Blair-Thomas has been employed with Walgreens for 20+ years.
She is married to George Thomas and has been blessed with 2 amazing children: Joshua and Clarissa.
Motivated and amazed by Joshua’s rapid cognitive development (reading at 2) and her personal knowledge of the need for a good educational foundation, Renee began a search for a place that could enhance and motivate him. This search lead to her finding Rainard, where, “they teach him according to his academic capabilities and not where his age dictates.”
Ron Millikan
Ron Millikan is a geophysicist and software engineer at Chevron. His son Ethan is 10 and has attended Rainard since 1st grade. Mr. Millikan attended public schools in Colorado and graduated from Columbine H.S. in 1986. He states “I know that children like my son, highly intelligent and twice gifted, cannot receive an adequate education in a public school. We cherish Rainard, its faculty, its leadership, and its mission. Rainard is helping my son realize his full potential.”
Leighton Moreland
Leighton Moreland is a Civil Engineer from Houston, Texas who is currently working in Colorado at RS&H, a national engineering and consulting firm. Mr. Moreland holds a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering as well as a Masters of Science in Civil Engineering from Colorado School of Mines. During his tenure at Mines, Mr. Moreland volunteered and participated in Engineers Without Borders. He is a Rainard alumni, attending from 7th-12th grade. Mr. Moreland values the education he received at Rainard and has been the school’s guest speaker at several fundraising galas, testifying to the importance of the school and it’s unique philosophy and mission.
Elena Shoshitaishvili
Elena Shoshitaishvili grew up in Moscow, Russia and moved to US in the middle of her undergraduate studies at the Russian State Geological Prospecting University. Two years later she graduated with a BS in Geosciences and a BS in Mathematics from University of Arizona. There she continued on to receive her PhD in Geophysics and Tectonics. Through all of her 14-year career in BP as seismic imager and analyst, she taught applied geophysics class, mentored new hires, was active graduate student recruitment and spent several years as a BP representative on the advisory board for the Department of Geosciences at the University of Arizona. In recent years Dr. Shositaishvili has chosen to concentrate on her two children who are attending Rainard school.
Vijay Yechoor
Vijay Yechoor, M.D. currently resides in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His daughter Neeta attended Rainard school from Kindergarten to 2nd grade. Dr. Yechoor is currently a professor of medicine in Endocrinology and Metabolism at the University of Pittsburgh Department of Medicine. He is the Director of the Diabetes and Beta Cell and Biology Center. His academic background includes fellowships and Harvard and Baylor College of Medicine and he received the Best Teacher award in 2015 in the Division of Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism.