Richardson High School was established in 1890. It is the flagship high school of the Richardson Independent School District (RISD). There are 2,564 students enrolled in 2016.

The school has magnet programs in fine arts, theatre, communications, robotics, law, health science and science, and award-winning mock trial and debate teams.

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 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.

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 11,000) with J. J. Pearce High School. The school's student news magazine is the Talon.

As of the 2010–2011 school year, the administration at RHS is led by Charles Pickitt, principal; Ramiro Lucio, senior principal; Michael Westfall, assistant principal; Josh Eason, assistant principal; Elise Curry, assistant principal; Sharonda Tims, assistant principal; and Talandra Griffen, assistant principal.

Notable accomplishments:

• 1985 Men's & Woman's Soccer UIL State Champions
• 1994 Women's Gymnastics UIL State Champions
• 1983-84 National Blue Ribbon School
• National Best Practices High School
• 2010 Exemplary High School by the Texas Education Agency (TEA)
• 2010 TBEC Honor Roll School (only 4% out of 8,000 Texas public schools are given this honor)
• Multiple Gold Performance recognition awards from the TEA
• 2007 Best Practices High School for Math and Science
• 2006 Best Practices School by the National Center for Educational Accountability (one of only 3 high schools in Texas to be so honored)
• 2013 AVID National Best Practices demonstration school

Suicide of Jeremy Delle

On January 8, 1991, Jeremy Delle, a 15-year-old sophomore, killed himself with a .357 Magnum revolver in front of his second-period English class. Delle was described by schoolmates as "real quiet" and known for "acting sad." After coming in to class late that morning, Delle was told to get an admittance slip from the school office. He left the classroom, and returned with a .357 Magnum revolver. Delle walked to the front of the classroom, announced "Miss, I got what I really went for", put the barrel of the firearm in his mouth, and pulled the trigger before his teacher or classmates could react. 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 he wrote, “Later days.” I didn't know what to make of it. But I never thought this would happen." 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.

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

Brent Archie incident

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 the RISD's history.

Notable alumni

• Evan Bernstein (born 1960) - Israeli Olympic wrestler
• Gregg Costa – judge, United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas
• Tim Cowlishaw - (Class of 1973) sportswriter, TV personality. RHS Alumni Hall of Fame
• Catherine Crier - (Class of 1973) youngest elected judge in Texas history. News and Television personality. RHS Alumni Hall of Fame
• Mark Dodd - soccer player (Dallas Burn, Dallas Sidekicks) RHS Alumni Hall of Fame
• Brandon Douglas – American actor known for playing Ben Agretti in the 1988-1989 season of the television series Falcon Crest, as well as playing Dr. Andrew Cook in the popular CBS series Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman. Other credits include: 21 Jump Street, Northern Exposure, Matlock, Murder, She Wrote, and JAG.
• Jeff Dunham - (Class of 1980) ventriloquist. RHS Alumni Hall of Fame
• Bill Engvall – (Class of 1975) comedian, actor. RHS Alumni Hall of Fame
• David Gordon Green – film writer-director. RHS Alumni Hall of Fame
• Eddie Jackson - football player (New England Patriots, Miami Dolphins and Carolina Panthers)
• Robert Jeffress - (Class of 1974) pastor of the First Baptist Church of Dallas
• Jay Johnson (Class of 1967) - ventriloquist, actor, Tony Award Winner. RHS Alumni Hall of Fame
• Caleb Landry Jones - Actor from movies No Country For Old Men, X-Men: First Class, and Contraband.
• Gordon Keith - radio personality, Marconi Award Winner. RHS Alumni Hall of Fame
• Jake McDorman – American film and television actor who is best known for playing Evan Chambers in the ABC Family TV series Greek. He also played the character Raymond in the movie Aquamarine.
• Carla Overbeck (Class of 1986) – soccer player and coach (United States women's national soccer team, RHS Alumni Hall of Fame
• Jeff Paine - (Class of 1979) NFL linebacker, RHS Alumni Hall of Fame
• Anne Rice – author, RHS Alumni Hall of Fame
• John Maddox Roberts (Class of 1965) - author, RHS Alumni Hall of Fame
• Bill Scanlon - (Class of 1974) professional tennis player. RHS Alumni Hall of Fame
• Barry Watson - actor

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Click this link for the history of  the city of Richardson Texas: https://www.cor.net/index.aspx?page=799