Richardson High School

Richardson High School (RHS) is a magnet high school in Richardson, Texas, United States with approximately 2,770 students and a student/teacher ratio of approximately 15:1 in the 2018–2019 school year.[3] It is the oldest high school in the Richardson Independent School District (RISD).

Richardson High School
Address
1250 West Belt Line Road

Richardson
,
Dallas County
,
Texas
75080

United States
Coordinates32°57′06″N 96°45′44″W
Information
TypeHigh school/secondary school
MottoScientia Cum Prudentia
Established1890 (1963 - current facility)
School districtRichardson Independent School District
PrincipalChris Choat[1]
Teaching staff185.52 (FTE)[2]
Grades9–12
Enrollment2,693 (2018-19)[2]
Student to teacher ratio14.52[2]
Color(s)Purple and gold          
MascotEagle
NicknameRHS
PublicationThe Talon
Feeder schoolsWestwood Junior High School Richardson West Junior High School
Magnet ProgramsLaw, culinary arts, visual arts, photography/photo media arts, theater, tech theater, communications, robotics, science, and computer science
WebsiteRichardson High School Website

Background

Richardson High School is the flagship high school of the Richardson Independent School District (RISD).[4] The school has many magnet programs such as, culinary arts,[5] theater, visual arts, tech theater, communications,[4] robotics, law, science, and computer science. The school also has award-winning mock trial, debate, and computer science teams.[4]

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.[6]

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.[7]

In August 2006, Richardson High School was named one of three "best practices" high schools in the state of Texas.[8] 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.[9] 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.

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.

Richardson's sports mascot is the Eagles and the team shares Eagle-Mustang Stadium (capacity 12,000) with J. J. Pearce High School. The school's student news magazine is the Talon.[10]

As of the 2018-2019 school year, the administration at RHS is led by Chris Choat,[11] 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.

Notable accomplishments
  • 1985 Men's & Woman's Soccer UIL State Champions[12]
  • 1983–84 National Blue Ribbon School[13]
  • National Best Practices High School[4]
  • 2010 Exemplary High School by the Texas Education Agency (TEA)[4]
  • 2010 TBEC Honor Roll School (only 4% out of 8,000 Texas public schools are given this honor)[4]
  • Multiple Gold Performance recognition awards from the TEA[4]
  • 2007 Best Practices High School for Math and Science[4]
  • 2006 Best Practices School by the National Center for Educational Accountability (one of only 3 high schools in Texas to be so honored)[4]
  • 2012, 2018 1st place Lockheed Martin CodeQuest Fort Worth[14][15]
  • 2016, 2017, 2018 1st place HP CodeWars Houston[16][17][18]
  • 2016, 2018 UIL Computer Science State Runner-up (6A)[19][20]
  • 2017, 2018 1st place Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology Autonomous Vehicle Competition[21][22]
  • 2018, 2019 1st place Lockheed Martin CyberQuest cybersecurity competition[23]
  • 2019 1st place University of Central Florida 33rd Annual High School Programming Tournament[24]
  • 2019 UIL Computer Science State Champions[25]
  • 2019 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places TCEA State Computer Science contest[26]
  • 2019 1st and 2nd places TCEA Super Region Computer Science contest

Jeremy Delle suicide

On January 8, 1991, Jeremy Delle, a 15-year-old sophomore, shot himself with a Smith & Wesson Model 19-4 .357 Magnum revolver in front of his second-period English class.[27] Delle's peers described him as "real quiet" and known for "acting sad".[27] Delle was tardy that morning, and after going to his second-period class, he was told to get an admittance slip from the school office for arriving late. Delle left the classroom, but instead of going to the school office he went to his locker where he had the gun concealed, and returned to the classroom with it. Delle walked to the front of the classroom and announced, as his last words, "Miss, I got what I was going for." He then put the barrel in his mouth and pulled the trigger before anyone could react.[27] Lisa Moore, a schoolmate, knew Jeremy from the in-school suspension program: "He and I would pass notes back and forth, and he would talk about life and stuff," she said. "He signed all of his notes, 'Write back.' But on Monday [January 7] he wrote, 'Later days.' I didn't know what to make of it. But I never thought this would happen."[27] The incident inspired the Pearl Jam song "Jeremy". The band's lead singer, Eddie Vedder, read a newspaper account of the incident and was moved to write the song almost immediately.[28][29]

KRET-TV
Main article: 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.[30] 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".

Among the first TV teachers on KRET were Frances Hough and Mary Esther Bynum.

Brent Archie scandal

On July 30, 2008, teacher and coach Brent Archie was arrested on charges of having relationships with three female students along with many other improper relationships as well. Archie was a football and wrestling coach, and also taught Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) and world history. This was the first incident of its kind in RISD history.[31][32]

Notable alumni

References
  1. "Staff Directory". schools.risd.org. Retrieved 29 March 2019.
  2. "RICHARDSON HS". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved June 7, 2020.
  3. "Search for Public Schools - School Detail for RICHARDSON H S". nces.ed.gov. Retrieved 2019-12-10.
  4. "Richardson High School Achievements" (PDF). Edline. Retrieved February 21, 2013.
  5. "Richardson culinary students create easy, healthy recipes for kids". dallasnews.com. January 29, 2011. Retrieved August 17, 2012.
  6. "More than 400 campuses earn all possible distinctions in 2017 accountability ratings". tea.texas.gov. Retrieved 2017-11-10.
  7. "Education: Richardson High School Overview". U.S. News and World Report. Retrieved February 21, 2013.
  8. Hughes, Kristine (August 18, 2006). "Richardson High recognized for its teamwork". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved August 17, 2012. (payment required)
  9. Weiss, Jeffrey (September 3, 2011). "How Richardson ISD beat its peers in getting the class of '09 college-ready". dallasnews.com. Retrieved August 17, 2012.
  10. Mattiza, F. (October 28, 2009). "Richardson: RHS graduate Anne Rice releases 29th novel". dallasnews.com. Retrieved August 17, 2012.
  11. "Welcome to Richardson HS / Staff Directory". schools.risd.org. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
  12. "UIL: Athletics - Soccer Playoffs". www2.uiltexas.org. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  13. "Blue Ribbon Schools Program: Schools Recognized 1982–1983 Through 1999–2002" (PDF). ed.gov. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 26, 2009. Retrieved February 21, 2013.
  14. "Code Quest, 2012". Lockheed Martin. Retrieved 2019-03-03.
  15. "Lockheed Martin CYBERQUEST™ Competition, 2018 Winners". Lockheed Martin. Retrieved 2019-03-11.
  16. "CodeWars - CodeWars 2016". www.hpcodewars.org. Retrieved 2019-03-03.
  17. (PDF) http://www.hpcodewars.org/past/cw20/results/2017WinnersHouston.pdf. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  18. (PDF) http://www.hpcodewars.org/past/cw21/results/2018WinnersHouston.pdf. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  19. "UIL Spring Meet - Results Archive". utdirect.utexas.edu. Retrieved 2019-03-03.
  20. "UIL Spring Meet - Results Archive". utdirect.utexas.edu. Retrieved 2019-03-11.
  21. "Richardson High School Computer Science". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2019-03-11.
  22. "Richardson High School Computer Science". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2019-03-11.
  23. https://www.lockheedmartin.com/en-us/who-we-are/communities/cyber-quest/cyber-quest-winners/cyber-quest-2018-winners.html. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  24. https://hspt.ucfprogrammingteam.org/hsptFiles/score2019.html. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  25. http://utdirect.utexas.edu/uil/vlcp_results.WBX?s_year=2019&s_meet_abbr=SPM&s_gender=&s_level_id=S&s_level_nbr=&s_conference=6A&s_area_zone=&s_submit_sw=X. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  26. "Computer Science Contest". TCEA. Retrieved 2019-05-15.
  27. Miller, Bobbi; Nevins, Annette (1991-01-09). "Richardson teenager kills himself in front of classmates". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved 2014-09-04.
  28. Smith, Helen. "3" (PDF). The Scarred Heart. Violent Kids.com.
  29. Black, Johnny (September 2002). "The Greatest Songs Ever! Jeremy". Blender. Archived from the original on December 29, 2008. Retrieved February 4, 2009.
  30. "Educational TV Rates Top Grade in Classes". The Dallas Morning News. March 31, 1960. section B, p. 6.
  31. Flemmons, Stephanie (September 25, 2009). "Richardson ISD teacher faces trial for sex crimes". planostar.com. Retrieved August 17, 2012.
  32. "RISD sex scandal 'disturbing and tragic'". Wfaa.com. August 15, 2009. Archived from the original on September 29, 2013. Retrieved August 17, 2012.
  33. "Learn About Richardson with Jeff #14 -- Famous grads of Richardson High School". Dallas News. 2009-09-16. Retrieved 2018-11-01.
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