William Howard Taft High School (San Antonio)

William Howard Taft High School is a public high school in the Northside Independent School District (NISD) of San Antonio, Texas, United States. As with all NISD high schools, the school is named for a United States Supreme Court justice, in this case former Chief Justice William Howard Taft, who was also the 27th President of the United States.

William H. Taft High School
New entrance and library, completed 2022
Address
11600 Culebra Road San Antonio , Bexar County , Texas 78253 United States
Coordinates	29.498255°N 98.721580°W / 29.498255; -98.721580
Information
School type	Public, high school
Founded	1985
School district	Northside Independent School District
Superintendent	Dr. Brian T. Woods[1]
NCES School ID	483312006148[2]
Principal	Martha Cortinas-Fernandez
Vice Principal	Richard Halle
Academic Dean	Jacquelyn Lambert
Assistant Principal	Leandra Valdez Jennifer Rios Fernando Nieto Brett Jeffries
Faculty	155.52 (on an FTE basis)[2]
Grades	9–12
Enrollment	2,719[2] (2023–2024)
Student to teacher ratio	17.48[2]
Language	English
Campus	Suburban
Color(s)	Red and white
Athletics conference	UIL Class AAAAAA
Mascot	Raider
Sports District	28-6A
Feeder Middle Schools	H.B. Zachry John B. Connally Coke R. Stevenson Wallace B. Jefferson Dolph Briscoe John Folks
Rival schools	William J. Brennan High School Earl Warren High School Sandra Day O'connor High School
Website	Official Website

Taft High School was the fifth NISD high school, and the first outside Loop 1604. It is home to the magnet school Communications Arts High School which focuses primarily on college readiness and technology. The building was designed by Noonan & Dockery & Noonan & Rogers Architects and was built by the H.B. Zachry Company.

Taft was named a National Blue Ribbon School in 1997-98.^[3] For the 2021-2022 school year, the school was given a "B" by the Texas Education Agency, with a distinction for Academic Achievement in Social Studies.^[4]

Athletics

The Taft Raiders compete in the following sports:^[5]

• Baseball
• Basketball
• Cross country
• Football
• Golf
• Soccer
• Softball
• Swimming & diving
• Tennis
• Track
• Volleyball

Marching Band

The Taft Raider Band has over 190 students from Communications Arts and Taft. The band qualified for the state marching contest in 2014. They participate in Region 29 and Area H UIL competitions.

Taft Raiders football

In December 2001 the Taft Raiders competed in the 2001 class 5A Division 1 State Championship game. The Taft Raiders faced the Mesquite Skeeters at Alamo Stadium in San Antonio,Texas. But the Taft Raiders would lose to the Skeeters by a final score of 14-13. And the Taft Raiders became 2001 State runner-up. The Taft Raiders year by year results of Texas high school football are below from 1997-2024

Years	Records	Head Coach	Season Results
1997	N/A	N/A	State Semifinalist losing to Katy Tigers 16-35 (5A D1)
2001	12-3	Bridges	State Finalist losing to Mesquite Skeeters 13-14 (5A D1)
2003	7-4	Bridges	Bi District round losing to Smithson Valley Rangers 14-24(5A D2)
2004	10-4	Bridges	State Quarterfinalist losing to Smithson Valley Rangers 24-42 (5A D2)
2005	2-8	Davenport	No playoffs
2006	4-6	Davenport	No playoffs
2007	4-7	Davenport	Bi District round losing to East Central 17-22 (5A D2)
2008	3-7	Davenport	No playoffs
2009	5-5	Davenport	No playoffs
2010	1-9	Davenport	No playoffs
2011	1-9	Davenport	No playoffs
2012	3-7	Davenport	No playoffs
2013	2-8	Davenport	No playoffs
2014	4-6	Davenport	No playoffs
2015	3-7	Davenport	No playoffs
2016	4-6	Davenport	No playoffs
2017	2-8	Davenport	No playoffs
2018	3-8	Stade	No playoffs
2019	3-7	Stade	No playoffs
2020	8-4	Stade	3rd round playoff loss to Hays 41-62 (6A D2)
2021	9-3	Stade	2nd round playoff loss to Edinburg Vela 24-27 (6A D2)
2022	8-4	Stade	2nd round playoff loss to San Benito 19-38 (6A D1)
2023	6-5	Stade	Bi District finalist losing to Laredo United 28-35 (6A D1)
2024	6-5	Stade	Bi District finalist losing to San Antonio Johnson 7-49 (6A D1)

Notable alumni

• Derek Cecil (Class of 1991) — Actor; starred in House of Cards on Netflix^[6]
• James Roday Rodriguez (Class of 1994) — Actor, director, screenwriter; known for USA Network series Psych^[6]
• Haley Scarnato (Class of 2000) — Singer; placed 8th on Season 6 of American Idol^[7]
• Otis McDaniel (Class of 2004) — Gold medal winning sprinter specializing in the 100 and 200 meters dashes^[8]
• Ike Ofoegbu (Class of 2004) - American-Nigerian Israeli Premier Basketball League player^[9]
• Justin Boyd (Class of 2008) - Basketball player who plays professionally in Taiwan^[10]