Rio Americano High School, colloquially known as Rio, is a public high school in Arden-Arcade, California, just outside Sacramento, serving students in grades 9 through 12 as part of the San Juan Unified School District. Rio Americano students come from the surrounding areas of Arden Park, Arden Oaks, Sierra Oaks, Fair Oaks, Carmichael, Gold River, and to a much lesser extent, the La Sierra community. In recent years, more students have been transferring from other districts and areas, partly due to the shift of Sacramento High School to a charter school. Rio's two rival schools are Jesuit High School and El Camino Fundamental High School because of the schools' close proximity. As of the 2022–23 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,884 students. Cliff Kelly is the principal. Christopher Hauger, Jennifer Dalton and Gina Jackson are the vice principals.

Awards and recognition

During the 1994–96 and 2006–07 school years, Rio Americano High School was recognized with the Blue Ribbon School Award of Excellence by the United States Department of Education, the highest award an American school can receive. In 2008 Newsweek ranked Rio as number 595 on their list of the top 1,300 public schools in the United States. In 2013, Rio Americano held an Academic Performance Index (API) of 823. Rio Americano produces a handful of National Merit commended students and a few National Merit semifinalists each year. Rio students also perform well on Advanced Placement (AP) exams, with over 400 AP exam scores of 3 or better and over 100 AP exam scores of 5 (the highest score possible) in 2009.

Demographics

Extracurricular activities

Mock Trial

Mock Trial is a year-round program that places students in a courtroom environment in which they act the parts of attorneys, witnesses, court clerks and bailiffs, in order to better their knowledge in the field of law. Each year the Team participates in competitions organized through the Constitutional Rights Foundations. Rio Americano's Mock Trial Team is known for its continuous record of success at both the County and State level Competitions. The Team has won 13 Sacramento County Championships: 1980, 1982, 1994, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, and 2021. From 1979-2021, the coach of Rio's Mock Trial Team is local attorney James "Jay" R. Greiner. In 2017, the team placed 3rd in the Sacramento County competition. In 2018, the team placed 2nd in the Sacramento County competition. In 2021 the team won the Sacramento County competition.

Science Bowl

Science Bowl is an academic competition sponsored by the United States Department of Energy that tests students in various categories of Science including Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Space Science, Earth Science, Energy, and Mathematics. Rio won the Sacramento Regional Competition in 1992 and competed in the national tournament in Washington, DC.

Notable alumni