Richardson High School (RHS) is a

magnet high school In the U.S. education system, magnet schools are public schools with specialized courses or curricula. "Magnet" refers to how the schools draw students from across the normal boundaries defined by authorities (usually school boards) as school ...

Richardson Richardson may refer to: People * Richardson (surname), an English and Scottish surname * Richardson Gang, a London crime gang in the 1960s * Richardson Dilworth, Mayor of Philadelphia (1956-1962) Places Australia * Richardson, Australian Cap ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

with approximately 2,770 students and a student/teacher ratio of approximately 15:1 in the 20182019 school year. It is the oldest high school in the

Richardson Independent School District Richardson Independent School District (RISD) is a school district based in Richardson, Texas (USA). RISD covers and serves the city of Richardson and portions of the cities of Dallas and Garland (60 percent of RISD is in North Dallas, with 3 ...

(RISD). Richardson High School is the flagship high school of the

(RISD). The school has many magnet programs, such as

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theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actor, actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The p ...

, visual arts, tech theater,

communications Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer to the message communicated through such transmissions or the field of inquir ...

robotics Robotics is an interdisciplinary branch of computer science and engineering. Robotics involves design, construction, operation, and use of robots. The goal of robotics is to design machines that can help and assist humans. Robotics integrat ...

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, and

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. The school also has award-winning mock trial, debate, and computer science teams.

History

The school, which opened shortly after the first public school in the city was burned down by Ross Inman in 1890, began in a two-room building on Old Pike Road, a street that is now part of Greenville Avenue. A rural school with fewer than 100 students up to 1950, the school opened its present facility in 1961. During the period of the late 1950s, RHS shared facilities with Westwood Junior High School on Abrams Road. Bill Passmore was principal during this transition into the new facility on Belt Line Road.

Brent Archie Scandal

On July 30, 2008, teacher and coach Brent Archie was arrested on charges of having relationships with three female students. Archie was a football and wrestling coach, and also taught

Advancement Via Individual Determination Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) is a non-profit organization that provides professional learning for educators to close opportunity gaps and improve college and career readiness for high school and middle school students, espec ...

(AVID) and

world history World history may refer to: * Human history, the history of human beings * History of Earth, the history of planet Earth * World history (field), a field of historical study that takes a global perspective * ''World History'' (album), a 1998 albu ...

. This was the first incident of its kind in RISD history.

Jeremy Wade Delle suicide

On January 8, 1991, Jeremy Wade Delle, a 15-year-old sophomore, fatally shot himself in front of his second-period English class. The incident inspired the

Pearl Jam Pearl Jam is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. The band's lineup consists of founding members Jeff Ament (bass guitar), Stone Gossard (rhythm guitar), Mike McCready (lead guitar), and Eddie Vedder (lead vocals, guita ...

song " Jeremy".

Administration

As of the 2018–2019 school year, the administration at RHS is led by Chris Choat, Principal; Michelle King, Associate Principal; Bill Parker, Magnet Principal; Von Ensley, Assistant Principal; Ramiro Lucio, Assistant Principal; Elise Curry, Assistant Principal; Jose Vega, Assistant Principal; and Tara McLennan, Assistant Principal.

Athletics

Richardson's sports mascot is the Eagle; students, teachers, and alumni are referred to as Eagles; and the team shares Eagle-Mustang Stadium (capacity 12,000) with

J. J. Pearce High School J. J. Pearce High School is a high school located in Richardson, Texas, United States. It is named after Joseph Jones “J.J.” Pearce, the superintendent for the Richardson Independent School District (RISD) from 1946 to 1977. In 2018, it had an ...

. The school was the

University Interscholastic League The University Interscholastic League (UIL) is an organization that creates rules for and administers almost all athletic, musical, and academic contests for public primary and secondary schools in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the largest organi ...

State Champions for Men's & Woman's Soccer in 1985.

Notable accomplishments

The school was recognized as a

National Blue Ribbon School The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program is a United States Department of Education award program that recognizes exemplary public and non-public schools on a yearly basis. Using standards of excellence evidenced by student achievement measures, ...

in the 198384 school year. In August 2006, Richardson High School was named one of three "best practices" high schools in the state of Texas. The award granted by the National Council of Educational Accountability and the Just 4 Kids Foundation is based upon staff development, staff retention, standardized test scores and support programs for students. In May 2007, the RISD was awarded the "Excellence in Education Award for Large School District in Texas" by the HEB Foundation. Richardson High School and Richardson West Junior High played instrumental roles in the selection process and hosted the site visit committee in March 2007. In addition to the award, the RISD received a check for $100,000. In the 2012 '' U.S. News & World Report'' rankings of the Best Schools in America, Richardson High School ranked number 711 out of 21,766 public high schools, putting it in the top 3.5% of all public high schools in the United States. RHS was also rated the 65th best in the state of Texas. In 2015, 2016, and 2017, Richardson High School was one of the few hundred schools in the state of Texas, and the only high school in RISD to earn all 7 distinctions in the STAAR state assessment.

Media

In 2009, the school's student news team started a public, student written, magazine known as ''The Talon''.

KRET-TV

In 1960 the Richardson Independent School District established KRET, the first TV station in the nation to be owned by a school district. The studio was located at Richardson High from 1963–1970. The studio was previously located at Richardson Junior High School (1960–1963). The station was converted on August 31, 1970, into a closed-circuit network named "TAGER".

References

External links

* {{authority control High schools in Richardson, Texas Richardson Independent School District high schools Magnet schools in Texas Educational institutions established in 1890 1890 establishments in Texas