Rice's education department had no experience teaching younger students, so the laboratory school was made into a K-8.

Tim Fleck of the Houston Press stated that the Rice University label "sold like Lacoste.

"[10] The district planned to find a site for the school; plans to put the school on Brompton Road failed, and an attempt to buy land at Bissonnet Street at Newcastle Drive in the City of Bellaire failed since City of Bellaire officials and parents living in Bellaire complained when they learned that they would not be zoned to the new school while losing what Fleck described as "a prime chunk of taxable property.

"[10] Raymond settled on a site on North Braeswood Drive, fulfilling what Fleck described as "minimal expectations.

[11] Fleck said that The Rice School's concept "mushroomed into an incredibly complex educational experiment that aspired to be all things to all parties with an interest in its success.

"[9] The intention was to attract students from the West University Place area by the promotion of the school's ties to Rice University, the presence of, in Fleck's words, "more computers than a private school," [sic] and the grouping of classes into clusters;[9] in the clusters students would progress at their own rates and tutor one another.

Rice University was to benefit from additional ties to the Houston community and having educational theories demonstrated in practice.

Circa January 1995 Stripling left her position as she received a promotion, and Sharon Koonce, previously at Oak Forest Elementary, replaced her.

[12] Eight student placements per grade level were reserved for dependents of Rice University employees.

[12] In addition, he stated that "Parents in an older, affluent community" immediately to the school's east had no dedicated entry into the lottery system so they were also unsatisfied.

"[12] In 1994 Melanie Markley of the Houston Chronicle said that Rice, "with its distinctive architecture and its progressive curriculum -- promises to be a kind of flagship school for a district hoping to replicate many of its already apparent successes.

Many affluent parents had stopped sending their children to The Rice School, saying that the "integrated" freeform curriculum neglected basic mathematics and reading skills.

Fleck stated that the statistic was "somewhat misleading" since it measured the performances of economically disadvantaged pupils in the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS); Fleck said that the ranking was "a major embarrassment for the school district and served to underscore the gap between the children of affluent white parents and minority students that the Rice School was designed to bridge.

"[9] McAdams wrote that the divide in terms of class and neighborhood origins between the White affluent parents and the low income Black and Hispanic parents were more significant than the differences in ethnicity, and the differences contributed to the decline of the school.

As of 2015 it was being used to house excess students from Roberts, Twain, and West University elementary schools, which were all at capacity.

Since its opening the school has dual language instruction; all students learn in English and Spanish.

[20] This two story, 167,000 square feet (15,500 m2) building was designed to facilitate the school's learning cluster model.

[11] There were no academic admission standards, leading the student body to initially include middle and low income African-Americans and Hispanics and wealthy Whites with varying ranges of ability.

She added that the format allows children to learn from both elementary and middle school teachers at the same time, starting with the first year.

[27] According to Nancy Ross, a former Rice School parent quoted in the Houston Press, originally the uniforms were to be white T-shirts and blue jeans.

Tim Fleck of the Houston Press said that this was an example of wealthier parents getting to "set the agenda" at Rice.

[20] The uniform, decided by parents and students, ultimately consisted of khaki trousers, shorts, and skirts and red, white, and blue polo shirts.