William Clark
William Clark
Founder and Superintendent, STEP Charter
William Clark was raised in Houston and is a product of Ft. Bend and Spring Branch I.S.D. school systems. He attended the University of Texas in Austin and graduated with a marketing degree in 1991.
William grew up in education. His mother was a pre-school director for a school that he attended as a child. He later worked his way through high school and college summers as an after-school teacher in her school. After completing college, William got his teaching certificate from St. Thomas University in Houston in 1995. He also later received a master’s degree in History at the University of Houston in 1999.
In 1995, William went overseas to teach at an International School in Copenhagen Denmark, teaching history, math and science. In 2000, he returned and went to work as a middle school math teacher at Edison Middle School in Houston I.S.D. After three years, he left to become a stay at home Dad for his new born daughter. This he will tell you is the hardest job he ever had.
In 2004 William opened a pre-school with his daughter attending, and life had come full circle. He began applying to turn the school in southwest Houston into a public charter school, which was thankfully approved by the Texas Education Agency after the thorough application process. In 2006, the school opened with 80 students, kindergarten – third grade.
Fourteen years later, STEP Charter School now has two campuses, kindergarten through 8th grade and over 500 students. The school’s mission is simply to be is a small, safe, positive and beautiful place to learn. With over 90% of student economically disadvantaged in the district, William’s mission has always been to give our community students the same educational schools that he was so fortunate to receive.
William has two beautiful children now who are growing up too fast- a daughter Liv in high-school and son Christian in middle school.
