S.H. Rider High School was a public school in Wichita Falls, Texas, United States. It was part of the Wichita Falls Independent School District. The school opened in 1961 and served students in grades nine through twelve, until its closure in May 2024.

History

The school opened for classes in the fall of 1961. It 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. Although Rider did not open until seven years after the U.S. Supreme Court's Brown v. Board of Education decision, none of Wichita Falls's high schools integrated their classes until the late 1960s. Rider shut its’ doors permanently at the end of the 2023-2024 school year, with two new high schools, Legacy High and Memorial High, near completion. Students were transferred to one of the new high schools depending on which zone they lived in. The campus will sit vacant until a potential school bond election in 2027 is proposed to convert it into a middle school.

Demographics

In the 2016–2017 academic year, 59.3% of Rider's graduates were white, 22.3% were Hispanic, 9.8% were African American, 4.3% were Asian, 1.6% were American Indian, 0.3% were Pacific Islander, and 2.4% were multiracial.

Academics

During the 2016–2017 school year, 8.2% of Rider students were in the school's gifted and talented education program. Another 10.4% of Rider students were in the school's special education program. In 2016, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) gave Rider an academic accountability rating of "Met standard". In 2018, the TEA began grading schools in five key areas of performance. In 2017, four "preliminary" grades were given to Rider: a B, two Cs, and a D.

Sports

In 1970, Wichita Falls Independent School District built Memorial Stadium, the first high school stadium in Texas with AstroTurf. Seating capacity is over 14,500.

Notable alumni