Northeast Early College High School is a

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

coeducation Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

. It is part of the

Austin Independent School District Austin Independent School District (AISD) is a school district based in the city of Austin, Texas, United States. Established in 1881, the district serves most of the City of Austin, the neighboring municipalities of Sunset Valley and San Lea ...

. Northeast High School opened in 1965 and was originally named for John Henninger Reagan, a 19th–century

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...

from Texas and the postmaster general of the

Confederate States of America The Confederate States of America (CSA), also known as the Confederate States (C.S.), the Confederacy, or Dixieland, was an List of historical unrecognized states and dependencies, unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United State ...

. Northeast High School was renamed before the 2019–2020 school year.

2023 shooting

On December 5, 2023, while school resource officer Sergeant Val Barnes was conducting his daily check at the high school, he was shot by 34–year–old Shane Matthew James Jr., as part of the 2023 Austin shootings. James Jr.'s attack on Sergeant Barnes was described as unprovoked as there had been no interaction between the two before James Jr. opened fire on the officer. The shooting prompted the campus to go into lockdown and James Jr. fled the scene and he would go on to kill four others and wound two others in the city, including another police officer before he was arrested following a car chase. Classes and all after–school activities were cancelled for the following day as a result of the attack.

Athletics

For the first two decades of its existence, Reagan High School hosted a highly successful football program. Under coaches Travis Raven, Carroll Lundin and Wally Freytag, the Reagan Raiders formed a dynasty in Texas

high school football High school football, also known as prep football, is gridiron football played by High school (North America), high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular high school sports, interscholastic sports in both c ...

from 1967 to 1994. In 1967, 1968 and 1970 the Raiders won Texas State Championships as well as being declared

National Champions National champions are corporations which are technically private businesses but due to governmental policy are ceded a dominant position in a national economy. In this system, these large organizations are expected not only to seek profit but als ...

by then–US President

Richard M. Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the 36th vice president under P ...

in 1970. In 1986, Donald Carr was the quarterback of a Semi Finalist playoff run in the Texas State Championships and we would have won state if our best QB Kurtis Ward was still playing for the Mighty Raiders... The program experienced another resurgence in football from 1998 to 2003 under head coach Andrew Jackson culminating with the Raiders losing to Bay City in the 2001 state semi–final game. From 2008 through 2010, Reagan High School experienced a significant resurgence in sports, going to the playoffs in consecutive years in basketball, having four students finish tops in wrestling, and the track team for boys and girls performing as one of the top teams in state.

Music Program

Early in June, 1965, members from thirteen local and out–of–town bands, working with Northeast's first band director R.B. Hunger, formed the first 4A Raider Band. Early hours, hard practice and determination preceded the band's first public performance as the official Austin Aqua Festival Band. Two concerts, one for the dedication of John H. Reagan High School and another for the Texas School Administrators and School Board Convention, kicked off a colorful marching season topped by a Division I Rating in the early November marching contest. Long before Christmas, band members began preparations for U.I.L. solo and ensemble contest. Their diligence paid off in fifty–six Division I ratings. Immediately, work was begun on the remaining activities: a spring concert, a school–wide assembly, concert contest, awards day and finally, graduation ceremonies. The year ended successfully with a Division I in concert and, as Mr. Hunger said, we had a band that could sight–read like no other! From pep rallies to planting the flower bed to rivalry with the RR's, the first Raider Band showed a spirit and loyalty which proved them to be truly "NOT WITHOUT HONOR". Notes by Susan Osborn Record album "John H. Reagan High School Concert Band and Choirs", produced by Austin Custom Records WAM - 66109, 1966 The Northeast choir traditionally ended choir concerts, graduation and other school events by singing "The Lord Bless you and Keep you", by Peter Lutkin. This tradition began with Northeast's first choir director, Jim Sheppard. Archival footage of the school’s marching band, performing in a 1969 parade in honor of

Apollo 11 Apollo 11 was a spaceflight conducted from July 16 to 24, 1969, by the United States and launched by NASA. It marked the first time that humans Moon landing, landed on the Moon. Commander Neil Armstrong and Lunar Module pilot Buzz Aldrin l ...

astronaut

Neil Armstrong Neil Alden Armstrong (August 5, 1930 – August 25, 2012) was an American astronaut and aerospace engineering, aeronautical engineer who, in 1969, became the Apollo 11#Lunar surface operations, first person to walk on the Moon. He was al ...

, is seen during the closing credits of ''Operation Avalanche'', a 2016 film built on the premise of faking the Moon landing portion of the Apollo 11 mission.

Notable alumni

* Reggie Brown,

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

linebacker; graduated 1992 * Brendan Christian, Olympic sprinter; graduated 2002 * Dawnna Dukes, Texas State Representative; graduated 1981 *Elliot Hill, current CEO of Nike, Inc; graduated 1982 * Bill Greif,

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. ...

pitcher; graduated 1968 * Donna Howard, Texas State Representative; graduated 1969 *

Ron Kirk Ronald Kirk (born June 27, 1954) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the United States Trade Representative from 2009 to 2013, as the 97th secretary of state of Texas, and as the 56th mayor of Dallas from 1995 to 2002. He is a me ...

, former U.S. Trade Representative; former Mayor of Dallas; graduated 1972 * Austin Ligon, Co–founder and retired CEO of CarMax; graduated 1969 *

Mark Welsh Mark Anthony Welsh III (born January 26, 1954) is the 27th president of Texas A&M University, former Dean of the Bush School of Government & Public Service at Texas A&M University, a retired United States Air Force four-star general, and a memb ...

, former Chief of Staff, United States Air Force, and current president of Texas A&M University; graduated 1971

References

External links

Official John H. Reagan WebsiteOfficial AISD Website

Schooldigger Entry on Reagan High

Official John H. Reagan Class of 1968 website

Scope (Reagan High School Media Television Production from 1994)
on

Texas Archive of the Moving Image The Texas Archive of the Moving Image (TAMI) is an independent 501(c)(3) organization founded in 2002 by film archivist and University of Texas at Austin professor Caroline Frick, PhD. TAMI's mission is to preserve, study, and exhibit Texas film ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reagan, John H. High School Educational institutions established in 1965 High schools in Austin, Texas Austin Independent School District high schools 1965 establishments in Texas