| William Benton Ray High School | |
|---|---|
| Established | 1950 |
| Type | Public, Secondary |
| Principal | Cissy Perez |
| Students | 1850 |
| Grades | 9–12 |
| Location | 1002 Texan Trail, Corpus Christi, Texas, USA |
| Colors | Scarlet & Silver |
| Mascot | The Fighting Texan {"Tex" & "Mary-Lou"} |
| Yearbook | Silver Spur |
| Newspaper | El Tejano |
| Website | http://ray.ccisd.us |
W. B. Ray High School is a secondary school centrally located in Corpus Christi, Texas and is part of the Corpus Christi Independent School District. The school is named in honor of the school board president, William Benton Ray. W. B. Ray High School opened in 1950.
Ray High is the only CCISD school which offers the International Baccalaureate Program; is CCISD's only program for Gifted and Talented students at the High School level, offering academics that surpass the most advanced courses found in all other CCISD schools.
Contents |
In 2005, W. B. Ray had a student body of approximately 2,400 students with an ethnic distribution of Over 62% Hispanic, 32% White, 5% Black, & 1% other including Native Americans, Pacific Islanders, and Asians. The district area includes a variety of socio-economic strata, ranging from extremely affluent to just above the US poverty level. Ray High School has the most economically diverse student population. Homes in the Ray High School district range from housing projects to Corpus Christi's most exclusive neighborhoods.
As of 2008, W. B. Ray turned in a student body just under 2,000, which dropped them in classification from 5A to 4A.
In 2011, Ray High School's enrollment was counted at around 1,850.
The school principal is Cissy Perez, who replaced Richard 'Dick' Peltz, who took the place of Steven Gonzales at the beginning of the 2007-2008 school year.
The school's motto is "Truly Texan". The mascots are "Tex" and "Mary Lou." The school has a long time rivalry with crosstown Roy Miller High School. With the decline of enrollment at Miller and Moody, King and Carroll have become increasingly significant rivals, taking the place of Moody and Miller.
The school was at one time in its early history competitive at the state levels even winning the 1959 Football State Championship under the coaching of Bill Stages. The Texans have been standouts in the recent past in the sports of basketball and baseball. Led by high school hoopster Taurean Mitchell the Texans would eventually achieve high status in the state. In 2003 they made it to the state finals, ultimately losing to DeSoto. After graduation, Mitchell accepted an athletic scholarship to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and in 2007 helped lead the Islanders to a Southland Conference Championship and a trip to the NCAA Div. I Tournament; the first in school history.
This school has a simple dress code: any color shirt & pants, but can not be showing anything. (stomach, etc.) Assistant Principals and armed police officers guard the main hallways in search of dress code offenders. In 2000, there was a push in the administration (led by Dr. Scott at the time) to ban flip-flops, but student and parent outcry and lack of support from teachers led to this being dropped. [1]
We are the Fighting Texans
Stalwart and upright fellows
We'll meet the foe in contest
Never say die
We'll FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!
With all our silver power
And all the scarlet in our veins
We will fight with all our might
To do the foe upright
And bring home a VICTORYYYY! FIGHT!