James E. Taylor High School

James E. Taylor High School is a public high school in unincorporated Harris County, Texas, in the Greater Katy area. The campus is located within the Nottingham Country subdivision, but is not within the Katy city limits. The school serves grades 9 through 12, and is part of Katy Independent School District.

James E. Taylor High School
Location
20700 Kingsland Boulevard Katy , Harris County , Texas 77450 United States
Coordinates	29°46′39″N 95°43′57″W
Information
Type	Public
Motto	"Think, Work, Grow"
Established	1979
School district	Katy ISD
Principal	Melinda Stone[1]
Faculty	210
Teaching staff	197.27 (FTE)[2]
Grades	9-12
Enrollment	3,188 (2023-2024)[2]
Student to teacher ratio	16.16[2]
Color(s)	Royal Blue   White
Athletics conference	UIL Class 6A
Mascot	Mustang
Rivals	Cinco Ranch High School Katy High School Tompkins High School Seven Lakes High School
Newspaper	Mane Event
Yearbook	Stampede
Website	Official Website

History

Taylor opened for classes on November 26, 1979.^[3] The school was named for James "Jimmy" Edgar Taylor (1912–1997), superintendent of the Katy ISD for 31 years.^[3] During his tenure, Katy ISD grew from a Class A district to one with two 5A high schools.^[4] Taylor High is a 1996 Blue Ribbon School,^[5] and was ranked 1,499 out of all U.S. high schools by U.S. News & World Report in 2022.^[6]

Feeder patterns

The following junior high schools feed into Taylor.^[7]

• Memorial Parkway, McMeans, and West Memorial (a very small portion)

The following elementary schools feed into Taylor.^[7]

• Exley (partial), Hayes, Memorial Parkway, Nottingham Country, Pattison, West Memorial (a very small portion), and Wolfe (partial)

Demographics

The average household income zoning areas to James E. Taylor High School is 166,986, which is balanced by the higher 77094 zip code with an average income of 207,000 as compared to the 77450 zip code with an average income of 127,000. Taylor High School is in the upper 6.2 percent of Texas high schools for family income.^{[citation needed]}

For the 2022-23 academic year, James E. Taylor High School enrolled 3,085 students, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. The school employed 189.23 full-time equivalent educators, resulting in a student-teacher ratio of 16.3:1.

Enrollment by race and ethnicity (2022-23)^[2]

Race and ethnicity†	Enrolled pupils	Percentage
African American	327	10.6%
Asian	454	14.72%
Hispanic	958	31.05%
Native American	7	0.23%
White	1,229	39.84%
Native Hawaiian, Pacific islander	2	0.06%
Multi-race	108	3.5%
Total	3,085	100%
† "Hispanic" includes Hispanics of any race. All other categories refer to non-Hispanics.

Awards and honors

Academics

• 5A Academic Decathlon National Champion: 1997^[8] and 2000^[9]
• Academic Decathlon National Runner-up: 1998,^[10] 1999,^[11] 2001^[12]
• 5A Academic Decathlon State Champions: 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001^{[13][non-primary source needed]}
• State nominee for the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching: 1999^{[citation needed]}
• Texas Business and Education Coalition Just For the Kids Honor Roll: 2003^{[14][non-primary source needed]}
• Texas Education Agency Exemplary School: 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003^{[14][non-primary source needed]}
• UIL 5A Academics State Social Studies Champions: 2005, 2007, 2008, 2011^{[15][13][non-primary source needed]}
• UIL 5A Academics State Spelling Champions: 2011^[15]
• UIL 5A Academics State Champions: 2004, 2007^{[13][non-primary source needed]}
• UIL 5A Academics State Computer Science Champions: 2002, 2004, 2005, 2007^{[13][non-primary source needed]}

Engineering and science

• TCEA State Programming Champions: 2005, 2008^{[13][non-primary source needed]}
• American Computer Science League – International Competition First Place: 2006
• HPE Code Wars Champions: 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008^{[13][non-primary source needed]}
• Texas A&M Regional Science Bowl champions: 2006^{[citation needed]}

Athletics

UIL state championships

Team

• Tennis state champion: 1997, 1998, 2002^[16]
• Tennis state runner up: 1995, 1996, 2000
• Tennis state semi-finalist: 1988, 1991, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007

Girls

• Wrestling individual champions: 2007 (Adele Kurt),^[17] 2012 (Nina Wyre)^[18]
• Soccer: 2006 state champions;^[19] 2000, 2001 state runner-up
• Swimming & diving individual state champions: 1986(1), 2003(1), 2019(2), 2020(1)^[20]
• Tennis (doubles): 1992,^[21] 2008,^[22] 2011^[23]

Boys

• Swimming & diving individual state champions: 1986(1), 2000(2), 2001(3), 2003(2), 2004(3), 2005(1)^[20]
• Swimming & diving team state champions: 2001, 2003^[20]
• Tennis (singles): 2013^[24]
• Tennis (doubles): 1984, 2001, 2002^[25]
• Track and Field individual champions: 2018(2) discus and shot put (Otito Ogbonnia)^[26]

Notable alumni and staff

Arts and entertainment

• Ryan Binse – film producer
• Janeane Garofalo – comedian and actress
• Kimberly Caldwell – singer, actress, and American Idol season 2 contestant
• Mark Matejka – guitarist for Lynyrd Skynyrd^[27]
• Emily Neves – voice actress (class of 2000)^[28][29]
• Renee O'Connor – actress who played Gabrielle on Xena: Warrior Princess
• William "Scarra" Li – Streamer and former professional League of Legends Player

Athletics

• Andrew Coker – offensive lineman for the TCU Horned Frogs (class of 2019)^[30]
• Hayden Conner – offensive guard for the Texas Longhorns (class of 2021)^[31]
• Trevor Enders – former Major League Baseball pitcher^[32]
• Eugene Espineli – former Major League Baseball pitcher^[33]
• Jonathan Garcia – Olympic athlete^[34]
• John Meloan – former Major League Baseball pitcher^[35]
• Otito Ogbonnia – professional football player (NFL) for the Los Angeles Chargers (class of 2018)^[36]
• Trevor Woods – safety for the Colorado Buffaloes (class of 2021)^[37]
• Patrick White – groundbreaking naval architect from the University of Michigan.

Politics/Law

• Ryan Patrick – former judge of the 177th District Court^[38] and former United States Attorney for the Southern District of Texas (class of 1997)