School Cleaning Houston — Private Schools, Academies & Religious Schools
Harris County is home to 403 private schools serving 79,021 students — the highest per-capita private-school enrollment in Texas. Catholic, Christian, Montessori, Jewish, Islamic, and independent academies all need cleaning that respects students, supports faculty, and never disrupts the school day. We work after-hours, around schedules and chapels, and treat every campus like our own kids attend.
(8% of all K-12 enrollment)
(Catholic, Christian, Jewish, Islamic)
parents expect facility quality
since 2016
Private & Religious Schools We Clean Across Greater Houston
Every campus has its own protocols. We brief our crews per-site so the rules you set about access, chapel hours, and confidentiality are followed every visit.
Catholic K-8 / K-12
Parochial schools with daily Mass, chapel time, and parish-school connections — clean around liturgy and respect sacred spaces.
Christian Academies
Non-denominational, Baptist, Lutheran, Methodist, and other Protestant K-12s — chapel, classroom, gym, fellowship hall.
Jewish Day Schools
Hebrew schools and day schools with kosher kitchen protocols, Shabbat-respectful scheduling, and ark/sanctuary considerations.
Islamic Schools
Full-time academies with prayer-room protocols, wudu areas, gender-separated classes, and daily salah scheduling.
Montessori Schools
Open classrooms, manipulatives, mixed-age environments — clean around the prepared environment without disrupting student work.
Independent & College-Prep
Top-tier independents with modern STEM labs, fine arts wings, athletic centers — the Kinkaid, St. John's, Strake Jesuit-style campus.
Religious-Affiliated Preschools
Mother's-Day-Out, Pre-K, and K-4 wings of larger schools or churches — handoff scope from our daycare page.
Specialty Schools
Arts, STEM, and language-immersion academies — performance halls, kilns, lab equipment, and culture-specific scheduling.
What's Included in School Cleaning
Every campus is different. This is the standard private-school scope — yours becomes a fixed-checklist on the walkthrough so nothing is "interpretation" once we're under contract.
Classrooms
- Desks, chairs, tabletops wipe-down and disinfection
- Whiteboards, chalkboards, marker tray detail
- Smartboards, projectors, screen technology cleaning
- Computer keyboards, mice, monitors (electronics-safe)
- Vacuum, mop, trash and recycling removal
- High-touch sanitization: door handles, light switches
- Lockers, cubbies, coat hook areas
- Reading nooks, manipulatives, learning-center reset
Restrooms
- Kid-height vs adult-height fixtures, treated separately
- Toilet, urinal, sink, mirror, partition cleaning
- Frequent restocking: toilet paper, soap, towels
- Floor mop with EPA List N disinfectant
- Trash and feminine product disposal
- Diaper-changing surface sanitization (lower grades)
- Gender-neutral and faculty restroom protocols
- Wheelchair-accessible stall priority cleaning
Cafeteria & Lunch Room
- Pre-meal sanitization of food contact surfaces
- Post-meal table, chair, bench wipe-down
- Tray return area, dish-drop sanitization
- Vending area, beverage station detail
- Salad bar polish and condiment-station reset
- Floor sweep, mop, spill response
- Trash and recycling removal
- Kosher / halal kitchen protocols on request
Gymnasium / PE / Field House
- Sweat-zone disinfection: bleachers, equipment, mats
- Locker room cleaning and shower mold control
- Athletic equipment wipe-down (weights, mats, balls)
- Mat sanitization for wrestling, gymnastics, yoga
- Gym floor sweep and damp-mop with safe finish
- Summer / break gym floor strip-and-refinish
- Trainer's room and ice-bath area sanitization
- Spectator restrooms and concession cleanup
Library / Media Center / Computer Lab
- Keyboard, mouse, monitor wipe-down (electronics-safe)
- Screen cleaning with microfiber, no spray on glass
- Dust-sensitive electronics protocol for labs
- Study carrel and bookcase dusting
- Carpet vacuum with HEPA filtration
- Circulation desk and self-checkout sanitization
- Stack ends, signage, reading-zone furniture
- Maker-space and 3D-printer area floor care
Chapel / Auditorium / Worship Space
- Pew, seat, and bench dusting and vacuuming
- Altar, ark, mihrab, pulpit detail (per protocol)
- Stage, dais, and presentation-area cleaning
- Auditorium seating reset between events
- AV booth and sound-rack tidying (no equipment moved)
- Polished wood, marble, and stained-glass care
- Religious art and liturgical-object do-not-touch list
- Reference: our worship-space scope
Nurse's Office & Administration
- Bloodborne pathogen-aware protocols (29 CFR 1910.1030)
- Color-coded microfiber for biohazard-prone areas
- Sharps container avoidance — never touched by crew
- FERPA-aware: no reading or photographing records
- Reception, principal, and office-suite detail
- Conference room reset between meetings
- Locked offices: cleaned only with permission slip
- Confidential mail, parent files: do-not-touch list
Faculty Lounge & Workrooms
- Break room appliance wipe-down (microwave, fridge exterior)
- Coffee station and beverage area sanitization
- Copy room: machine surfaces, paper trays, work tables
- Faculty mailboxes and inbox shelving dusting
- Sink, dishwashing area, counter detail
- Trash and recycling removal
- Floor mop with disinfectant
- Restroom adjacent to lounge cleaned to faculty standard
Compliance & Standards Built Into Every Visit
Schools live at the intersection of healthcare-grade hygiene, child safety, and parent expectations. Our protocols are designed to meet every one of them.
EPA List N Disinfectants
Our standard kit includes EPA-registered disinfectants with documented kill claims for influenza A & B, RSV, COVID-19, MRSA, and norovirus — the pathogens that cause school outbreaks.
Bloodborne Pathogen Standard
Crews are trained on OSHA 29 CFR 1910.1030 for nurse's office, athletic injury, and incident response. Color-coded microfiber, full PPE, and never touching sharps containers.
Green Seal GS-37 Options
For schools that want eco-friendly products — Green Seal GS-37 and EPA Safer Choice options available on request, especially common in Montessori and forward-leaning academies.
Background-Checked Staff
Every crew member is background-checked, badged, and uniformed. Additional fingerprinting through Texas DPS available on request. FERPA-aware — we don't read, photograph, or share student records.
Outbreak Response Protocol
Strep, lice, RSV, norovirus, and COVID episodic surges trigger our heightened-frequency protocol: 2x daily disinfection, EPA List N escalation, and same-week supervisor oversight.
How We Onboard a Houston Private School
No long sales calls, no fluff. Five steps from first call to first clean.
Free Walkthrough
30 minutes on-site with your head of school, facilities director, or business manager. We map every classroom, lab, specialty space, and athletic area, photograph anything that needs special handling, and listen to your past pain points.
Custom Proposal
Within 48 hours: a fixed-monthly written proposal with scope, frequency, products, supervisor cadence, FERPA-aware confidentiality, and Certificate of Insurance. No surprise add-ons later.
Crew Briefing
Your assigned crew gets a site-specific briefing: do-not-touch list, chapel and worship-space protocols, technology-safe products for labs and smartboards, access codes, and key handoff procedures.
First After-Hours Clean
Evening or overnight clean with our supervisor on-site for the first three weeks. Photos and a sign-off checklist go to your facilities email by morning so you can spot-check before students arrive.
Ongoing Quality Audits
Monthly walk-through audits, a direct line to your account manager, and a 30-day cancellation clause if anything ever falls below standard. We earn the relationship every month.
Why Houston Private Schools Switch to TCE
These are the four most common complaints we hear about previous cleaners — and exactly how we fix each one.
"Their crew came during chapel and disrupted assembly."
Our fix: Strict after-hours window — every visit happens after dismissal or overnight. Weekend and break-period deep cleans for everything that takes a full day. We never set foot on campus during chapel, lunch, or class.
"We had to redo the chemistry lab cleanup ourselves."
Our fix: STEM lab and art room scope is built into the plan from day one — fume hood exterior, lab benches, sink stations, chemical-safe products, kiln vicinity, and dedicated dust-control protocols for sensitive equipment.
"The cleaner left tech equipment dusty for weeks."
Our fix: Microfiber + dust-control protocol for screens, keyboards, smartboards, and projectors. Crews are briefed to never use abrasives or ammonia on coated touchscreens, and to follow manufacturer guidance for delicate equipment.
"The quote was an 'estimate' that became a rate hike six months in."
Our fix: Fixed monthly contracts with the scope locked in writing. Add-ons (event turnovers, break-period deep cleans, outbreak surges) are quoted separately in advance. No quiet rate hikes, ever.
Cleaning Cadence by Campus Size
A starting point — your final scope and price are set after the walkthrough. We'll never quote sight-unseen.
| Campus Size | Typical Frequency | Crew Size | Monthly Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small school · <10K sqft, K-3 only | 3x weekly evening | 2–3 cleaners | $1,500–$3,500 |
| Mid-size K-8 · 10K–25K sqft | Daily evening | 3–5 cleaners | $4,000–$9,000 |
| Full K-12 campus · 25K–60K sqft | Daily + day porter | 5–8 cleaners | $9,000–$22,000 |
| Multi-building / co-located preschool · 60K+ sqft | Multi-shift, dedicated supervisor | Day porter + multi-crew | Custom enterprise pricing |
Ranges reflect Houston-area private school cleaning market. Final pricing depends on square footage, frequency, scope, athletic facility complexity, and supplies arrangement.
What Houston School Leaders Tell Us
"Our previous vendor showed up when they wanted and quoted a 'rate adjustment' twice in one year. TCE locked in a fixed monthly figure, sends sign-off photos every morning, and our parents have stopped emailing us about restroom smells. That's the whole report card."
"They asked us, on day one, what the protocol was for the chapel between Mass and student activities, and how the crew should handle the gym during state tournament weekends. Our last cleaner never asked anything. That respect made the decision easy."
"We were skeptical about a new vendor on a religious campus — too much can go wrong. The walkthrough was thorough, the FERPA confidentiality clause was already in their template, and the supervisor was on-site the first three weeks. We're a year in and it's still rock-solid."
Houston Neighborhoods & Suburbs We Serve
Greater Houston's private school landscape concentrates in Memorial, River Oaks, Bellaire, West U, and the Heights — but extends from Sugar Land and the Energy Corridor out to The Woodlands, Spring, and Kingwood. We cover every ZIP where private schools cluster.
School Cleaning Houston — Frequently Asked Questions
If you don't see your question, call (832) 925-3800 or request a walkthrough and we'll answer it on-site.
Do you clean Houston private schools after hours? We don't want disruption during the school day.
+Yes. Our school-cleaning crews work after dismissal and overnight so classrooms, hallways, restrooms, and cafeterias are reset before students and faculty arrive the next morning. We coordinate with chapel services, after-school programs, athletic practices, and parent-teacher events so we never interrupt the school day.
Are your school cleaning crews background-checked? Required for all of our staff.
+Every member of our team is background-checked, badged, and uniformed before stepping on a campus. We document every check on file, re-verify annually, and can run additional fingerprinting through Texas DPS at your request — many of our private school clients require it for any vendor with after-hours building access.
Can you handle weekend deep cleans during school breaks?
+Yes. Thanksgiving, winter break, spring break, and summer turnover are when we deliver most of our K-12 deep cleans — full carpet extraction, floor strip-and-wax, gym floor refinish, restroom regrouting, locker disinfection, and classroom top-to-bottom resets. We schedule these in advance with your facilities lead so the campus reopens the way parents expect.
Do you sanitize technology — keyboards, screens, smartboards — without damage?
+Yes. We use microfiber and electronics-safe disinfectant wipes (no spray bottles directly on devices), follow manufacturer guidance for smartboards and projectors, and work around tagged or do-not-touch tech equipment. Crews are trained to never disconnect cables, never wipe with abrasives, and never use ammonia-based glass cleaner on coated touchscreens.
What disinfectants do you use? Are they safe for kids?
+Our standard kit is EPA List N — quaternary ammonium for general high-touch surfaces, hydrogen-peroxide-based products for sensitive areas, and freshly-mixed sodium hypochlorite at proper dilution for outbreak responses. Green Seal GS-37 and EPA Safer Choice options are available on request. We never use phenols (toxic to children) and we apply chemicals after dismissal, with full ventilation, so air quality is clean by the next school day.
How do you handle bloodborne pathogen cleanup in the nurse's office?
+Our team is trained on the OSHA Bloodborne Pathogen Standard (29 CFR 1910.1030). We use color-coded microfiber (red for biohazard areas), full PPE for blood or body-fluid cleanups, EPA-registered disinfectants with documented kill claims for bloodborne pathogens, and we never touch sharps containers — your school nurse handles those per protocol. Incident-response cleanups are documented and emailed to your facilities lead.
Do you respect chapel and worship space protocols on religious campuses?
+Yes. Many of our school clients are Catholic, Christian, Jewish, or Islamic — all with sanctuaries, chapels, prayer rooms, or daily Mass schedules. Our crews are briefed on what to clean, what to leave alone, and which products are appropriate for polished wood, marble, ark areas, mihrabs, altars, and sacred art. See our church-cleaning-houston page for additional detail on worship-space scope.
Can you handle gym, locker room, and athletic facility cleaning?
+Yes. Sweat-zone disinfection, locker-room shower mold control, athletic equipment wipe-down, mat sanitization, and field house benches are all part of our K-12 gym scope. We schedule deep refinishes (gym floor strip-and-wax, mat replacement) during summer or holiday breaks. Our gym-cleaning-houston page covers the same protocols at scale.
What does private school cleaning cost in Houston?
+Pricing varies by square footage, frequency, and scope. As a general guide: small K-3 academies (under 10,000 sqft, 3x weekly evening) typically run $1,500–$3,500/month; mid-size K-8 campuses (10,000–25,000 sqft, daily evening) run $4,000–$9,000/month; full K-12 campuses (25,000–60,000 sqft, daily plus day porter) run $9,000–$22,000/month; larger multi-building campuses receive enterprise pricing. We quote a fixed monthly figure after a free walkthrough — no surprise add-ons.
Do you provide supplies and equipment?
+Yes — we bring everything: equipment, microfiber, vacuums (HEPA-filtered for classrooms), mops, EPA-registered disinfectants, restroom stockables, and consumables. If your school prefers a specific brand, has a green-certified specification, or needs allergen-aware products for nurse-flagged students, we'll match it. Pricing always reflects who's supplying what.
Will you sign FERPA-aware confidentiality agreements?
+Yes. Our standard agreement includes a confidentiality clause specific to school environments — we don't read student records, photograph students or their work, discuss any incidents with anyone outside your facilities team, or share campus access information with anyone. We can also sign your school's specific NDA or vendor agreement at no charge.
How do we get started? What does the walkthrough look like?
+Call (832) 925-3800 or request a free walkthrough online. We'll come on-site (typically within a week, often within 48 hours), tour the campus with your head of school or facilities director, photograph anything that needs special handling, listen to past pain points with previous vendors, and email a fixed-monthly written proposal within 48 hours. No long-term contracts, 30-day cancellation, no surprise fees.
Other Commercial Verticals We Clean in Houston
Many of our school clients also operate adjacent facilities — chapels, daycares, gyms, and event spaces. Here's the rest of what we do.