Ronald Reagan High School is a Texas UIL Division 5A high school in the North East Independent School District

North East Independent School District

North East Independent School District is a school district located in Bexar County, Texas, . North East ISD serves the north central and northeast areas of Bexar County, covering approximately . North East ISD serves the cities of San Antonio, Castle Hills, Hill Country Village, Hollywood Park,...

 named after U.S. President Ronald Reagan

Ronald Reagan

Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....

. The school serves roughly 2700 students, and has been under the leadership of principal Bill Boyd since 2004.

History

In the early to mid-1990s, San Antonio, like many Sun Belt cities, experienced explosive growth in its suburbs - particularly affluent areas formed by migrants to the city. This was particularly the case in the area north of Route 1604 between the Blanco Road and US-281 corridors known as Stone Oak and Sonterra. The growth caused severe overcrowding at nearby Winston Churchill High School - at the time the farthest-north school in the North East Independent School District - ultimately resulting in a student population of 3,500 at a school designed for not more than 2,500. The NEISD recognized this problem, and as a part of its 1997 bond issue, the district included an allocation to build a new high school in this area although it has done little to nothing for the students currently attending to accommodate for this overpopulation.

After voters approved the bond issue, construction commenced on the 84 acres (339,936.2 m²) campus. The property had been purchased prior to this bond issue from descendants of rancher William Classen. Spaw Glass was the general contractor of the project. The name "Ronald Reagan" was chosen by future students of the school (those currently in attendance at other North East schools) from a list selected by the NEISD Board of Trustees. A spirit committee selected the mascot "Rattlers" from three finalists and chose green, silver and black as the school colors.

While finishing work was being completed on the new school, problems with the tiling in some classrooms led to the discovery that a previously unknown spring lay under the foundation of the building, causing cracks and perhaps long-lasting damage to the brand new school. Despite this problem, which prevented the use of some classroom facilities well into the first year of the school's operation, Reagan opened to much fanfare in August 1999. Joe Hannon served as its first principal.

Organization

Reagan, like most NEISD high schools, is organized into departments, each with a chairperson who oversees and organizes the activities and efforts of that department and reports to the administrative staff. Each department in turn can consist either of a teacher who oversees a class schedule, or a sub-department (in the case of Athletics, Fine Arts and Foreign Language), which can be made up of one or more teachers (For instance, the director of bands oversees the Reagan Band and coordinates and organizes the activities of all assistant band directors). Each class has an elected group of Class Officers with the Student Council Senate presiding over the entire Student Body.

Academics

Classes are graded on a 100-point grading scale, and each grade the student earns over their four-year high school career contributes to their ultimate class ranking. The 100-point grade is then converted into a four-point scale grade which appears on their high school transcript. Special weights are associated to classes based on their rigor (Advanced-placement classes are weighted one full grade point more (on the four-point scale). Consequently, if a student achieved a 3.3 in an advanced placement class, they would receive a 4.3 GPA ranking), and less rigorous courses might actually count against the student.

NEISD does not award competitive honors to students - any student earning a GPA of 100 or higher is a summa cum laude graduate. In some schools, this can lead to a very large number of summa graduates (as many as 170) as a result of large graduating class sizes and the extra weight given to advanced placement classes. Cum laude, magna cum laude and summa cum laude awards are given based on the students' 100-point scale GPA upon graduation.

Band

The Ronald Reagan High School Marching Band has been in existence since the school was open. The band has placed in the finals at every regional entered since the opening of the school until 2009. In 2009, the Reagan band missed BOA Arlington regional finals for the first time since they began competing in the BOA circuit. Not only does the Ronald Reagan Marching Band compete in the Texas University Interscholastic League

University Interscholastic League

The University Interscholastic League is an organization that creates rules for and administers almost all athletic, music, and academic contests for public primary and secondary schools in the American state of Texas....

 Marching competition held ever other year, it also enters annually in various Bands of America

Bands of America

Bands of America , a division of Music for All, Inc., is an organization that promotes and organizes marching band competitions for high school students. Competitions include both Regional and Super Regional Championships as well as the Grand National Championships...

 events including the regionals in Arlington, Texas

Arlington, Texas

Arlington is a city in Tarrant County, Texas within the Dallas–Fort Worth metropolitan area. According to the 2010 census results, the city had a population of 365,438, making it the third largest municipality in the Metroplex...

, and Houston, Texas

Houston, Texas

Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...

, the Super Regional in San Antonio, as well as the Grand National BOA competition held in Indianapolis, Indiana

Indianapolis, Indiana

Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...

. The band placed second in 2003 and 2005, eleventh in 2002. The band also participated in Nationals in 2007, making semi-finals but missing finals. In 2006, Reagan tied for third in the state of Texas at the state marching contest.