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.
History
Taylor opened for classes on November 26, 1979. The school was named for James "Jimmy" Edgar Taylor (1912–1997), superintendent of the Katy ISD for 31 years. During his tenure, Katy ISD grew from a Class A district to one with two 5A high schools. Taylor High is a 1996 Blue Ribbon School, and was ranked 1,499 out of all U.S. high schools by U.S. News & World Report in 2022.
Feeder patterns
The following junior high schools feed into Taylor. Memorial Parkway, McMeans, and West Memorial (a very small portion)
The following elementary schools feed into Taylor. 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.
For the 2020–21 academic year, enrolled students, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. The school employed full-time equivalent educators, resulting in a student-teacher ratio of :1.
Awards and honors
Academics
5A Academic Decathlon National Champion: 1997 and 2000
Academic Decathlon National Runner-up: 1998, 1999, 2001
5A Academic Decathlon State Champions: 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001
State nominee for the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching: 1999 Texas Business and Education Coalition Just For the Kids Honor Roll: 2003 Texas Education Agency Exemplary School: 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 UIL 5A Academics State Social Studies Champions: 2005, 2007, 2008, 2011 UIL 5A Academics State Spelling Champions: 2011 UIL 5A Academics State Champions: 2004, 2007 UIL 5A Academics State Computer Science Champions: 2002, 2004, 2005, 2007
Engineering and science
TCEA State Programming Champions: 2005, 2008
American Computer Science League - International Competition First Place: 2006
HPE Code Wars Champions: 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008
Texas A&M Regional Science Bowl champions: 2006
Athletics
UIL state championships
Team
Tennis state champion: 1997, 1998, 2002
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), 2012 (Nina Wyre) Soccer: 2006 state champions; 2000, 2001 state runner-up Swimming & diving individual state champions: 1986(1), 2003(1), 2019(2), 2020(1) Tennis (doubles): 1992, 2008, 2011
Boys
Swimming & diving individual state champions: 1986(1), 2000(2), 2001(3), 2003(2), 2004(3), 2005(1) Swimming & diving team state champions: 2001, 2003 Tennis (singles): 2013 Tennis (doubles): 1984, 2001, 2002 Track and Field individual champions: 2018(2) discus and shot put (Otito Ogbonnia)
Notable alumni and staff
Arts and entertainment
Janeane Garofalo - comedian and actress
Mark Matejka - guitarist for Lynyrd Skynyrd
Emily Neves - voice actress
Renee O'Connor - actress who played Gabrielle on Xena: Warrior Princess
Athletics
Trevor Enders - former Major League Baseball pitcher
Eugene Espineli - former Major League Baseball pitcher
Jonathan Garcia - Olympic athlete
John Meloan - former Major League Baseball pitcher
Otito Ogbonnia - professional football player (NFL) for the Los Angeles Chargers (class of 2018)
Politics
Ryan Patrick - former judge of the 177th District Court and former United States Attorney for the Southern District of Texas (class of 1997)