School type Secondary Principal Dee Palmore Enrollment 1,705 (2012/2013) Mascot Raider Number of students 1,705 | Established 1961 Grades 9th – 12th Phone +1 940-235-1077 Founded 1961 Color Black & Gold | |
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Rivals Wichita Falls High School Address 4611 Cypress Ave, Wichita Falls, TX 76310, USA District Wichita Falls Independent School District Similar Midwestern State University, Fowler Elementary School, Wichita Falls Memorial, City View Independ School Di, Notre Dame Catholic | ||
S.H. Rider High School is a public school in Wichita Falls, Texas (USA). It is part of the Wichita Falls Independent School District and is one of the district's three high schools. Located at 4611 Cypress Avenue in southwestern Wichita Falls, the school opened in 1961 and serves students in grades nine through twelve. The school was named for Stephen H. Rider, a long-time educator in the Wichita Falls Independent School District. He was principal of Wichita Falls High School from 1919 to 1949. He died in 1958, two years before ground was broken for the school that bears his name. The school mascot is the Rider Raider, and the Alma Mater was written by the school's choral director, Donald B. Cowan, who taught at Rider for 32 years.
Rider High School has long had a rivalry with Wichita Falls High School, locally known as "Old High". The week of the football games between the two makes news each year, also sparking vandalism, wrecks and attacks from both sides. Rider holds "The Happening", a tradition that happens the day before the Rider-Old High game that marks the end of the district football season and beginning of the play-off season. "The Happening" usually includes pep rallies, barbecues, fireworks, and a parade through the neighborhood surrounding Rider.
As of the 2005–2006 school year, Rider High had a total of 1,779 students (81.6% White, 9.2% Hispanic, 5.6% African American, 3.0% Asian/Pacific Islander, and 0.6% Native American). 19.5% of the students are considered economically disadvantaged. In 2007 the gross expenditure per student was approximately $4,528. 21% of the student body are listed as low-income while an additional 35.5% are listed as 'at risk'. 11% percent of students are enrolled in the Special Education. 12.4% are listed as members of the Gifted and Talented Association, though notable the campus has no program to accommodate these students to speak of. Less than 1% of students are listed as possessing 'limited' English-speaking skills. The school's attendance rate has rested consistently at 95% for years.
Based on the accountability ratings released by the Texas Education Agency on August 1, 2007, Rider High is currently rated "Academically Acceptable".
As published in the WFISD 2007–2008 handbook, in the SAT the mean score stands at 527 Math, 518 Verbal, with a composite of 1045; on the ACT, Raiders scored 22.8 on English, 22.6 on Math, 23.6 on Reading, 21.4 on Science, with a 22.7 composite score.
In 2012, the Rider High School Marching Band was invited to participate in the New Year's Day Parade held in London, England. The event was the first of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee which celebrated England's 2012 hosting of the Summer Olympics.