Michelle Bonton • Principal & Founder of The Rhodes School ative Houstonian Michelle Bonton knew when she was a middle schooler that she wanted to start a school of her own. Bonton’s inspiration came from actress Cicely Tyson’s portrayal of Chicago schoolteacher Marva Collins in the 1981 movie, “The Marva Collins Story.” “Out of the detours of having a child prior to finishing high school, dropping out, coming back and then going to college, I became a teacher, a school counselor, an assistant principal and a principal,” Bonton said. In 2007, Bonton founded The Rhodes School, a fine arts magnet charter school with art, dance, drama and classical music as part of its core curriculum. The school’s foundational principles are scholarship, leadership and citizenship. The tuition-free school’s flagship campus is in Humble with additional campuses across the greater Houston area. “The mission of the school is to produce critical thinkers who have the ability to lead, to be academically well prepared and have strong character,” Bonton said. “There’s a lot of conversation with the kids and the parents about personal responsibility, the role you must play in your own success and how that success is related to the success of all.” The students do a lot of community performances so that they may “understand that their gifts and skills have an economic value,” Bonton said. “We teach them how all these different art forms have principles related to each core subject area.” Bonton received a bachelor’s degree in professional
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writing from the University of Houston-Downtown and a master’s in counseling from Prairie View A&M University. She is currently working on a master’s degree in school leadership at Stephen F. Austin State University and plans to start a doctoral program in education policy at Lamar University. Bonton is a member of the Greater Houston Black Chamber of Commerce’s Public Affairs Committee; a volunteer with the East Harris County Empowerment Council; and a 23-year member of Living Word Fellowship Church, where she is a women’s ministry leader, Sunday school teacher and special events coordinator. She also is a former youth Bible study teacher at her church. Bonton is a former member of the North Channel Chamber of Commerce, a former public policy analyst for Fox News Houston and a former volunteer education policy specialist for Texas Legislative District 142 during the 83rd legislative session. Bonton has three children, Richard, 34, who’s running for the District 142 seat in the Texas House of Representatives, and Brandon, 32, a naval officer and graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy; Ashley Miller, 29, a speech language pathologist; and seven grandchildren. Bonton and her husband, Ellis Bonton, have been married for 32 years. In her spare time, Bonton loves “to read and study the word of God and spend time with my husband.” “I am called to positively impact the lives of children,” Bonton said. “It is my purpose in life and my passion, starting with my own kids.”