In 1955, Denton Civic Boys Choir School, was founded. But after two years a group of prominent Denton residents, led by John Ross of Moore Business Forms, put together a non-profit group to take over the school. With a borrowed $100, the school, renamed Denton Preparatory School in 1957, began classes in a building leased from Texas Woman's University. Thirty-three students attended kindergarten through 9th grade and it had five teachers. Leading that faculty was another Ross recruit: John D. Doncaster, a former English instructor at Southern Methodist University. Two years later Doncaster led the school to a new location to accommodate the 85 students and the fledgling boarding program. Parents and school community members worked to convert the barns into classrooms and the house into a dormitory.