Rio Americano High School


Rio Americano High School, colloquially known as Rio, is a public high school in Arden-Arcade, California, just outside Sacramento, serving students in grades 9 through 12 as part of the San Juan Unified School District. Rio Americano students come from the surrounding areas of Arden Park, Arden Oaks, Sierra Oaks, Fair Oaks, Carmichael, Gold River, and to a much lesser extent, the La Sierra community. In recent years, more students have been transferring from other districts and areas, partly due to the shift of Sacramento High School to a charter school. Rio's two rival schools are Jesuit High School and El Camino Fundamental High School because of its close proximity to the Arden Park area.
As of the 2018–19 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,820 students and 66.01 classroom teachers, for a student-teacher ratio of 24.28. Brian T. Ginter is the principal. Richard Nichols, Jennifer Dalton and Robert Kerr are the vice principals.

Awards and recognition

During the 1994–96 and 2006–07 school years, Rio Americano High School was recognized with the Blue Ribbon School Award of Excellence by the United States Department of Education, the highest award an American school can receive.
In 2008 Newsweek ranked Rio as number 595 on their list of the top 1,300 public schools in the United States.
In 2013, Rio Americano held an Academic Performance Index of 823.
Rio Americano produces a handful of National Merit commended students and a few National Merit semifinalists each year. Rio students also perform well on Advanced Placement exams, with over 400 AP exam scores of 3 or better and over 100 AP exam scores of 5 in 2009.

History

Rio Americano High School was established in 1963, built to offset a huge baby boomer population increase. As demand increased and Rio's academic and extracurricular programs proved strong, the school has remained a permanent fixture in the community. In 1983, the San Juan Unified School District was forced to close a high school due to budget constraints. Rio Americano and La Sierra were considered for closure. The school board closed La Sierra, whose plant remains in use for district activities, offices, and storage.
Rio has had only six principals since 1963. Joseph Brewer was the school's first principal. He was succeeded by Lloyd Snelson, who was followed by Alice Kubo. Ron Uzelac served as principal from 1985 to 2000. Rob Hollingsworth served from 2000 to 2009. Brian Ginter began in 2009.

Demographics

DemographicsWhiteAsianAfrican AmericanHispanicAmerican IndianFilipinoPacific Islander
Percentage74%12%2%9%<1.0%<1.5%<0.5%

Curriculum

Courses

Advanced Placement

Rio Americano offers 16 AP courses in addition to various Honors classes. Although there is no official class, students have been known to take the AP Statistics, AP Music Theory,, AP World History, and AP European History exams.
The following are elective courses available at Rio Americano
The Rio Americano band program is nationally recognized, having 3 levels of concert band, 3 levels of jazz ensemble, and the one-of-a-kind Small Ensemble class. In these classes, all students regardless of initial skill level are given a comprehensive education in music theory, ear training, composition, music history, and practical performance skills.
The primary fundraiser for the Band program that Rio Band organizes every year is the Playathon. This is a 17-hour-long fundraiser going from 7 am until midnight that is entirely student-organized. Playathon planning starts at the beginning of each school year and the fundraiser itself usually occurs on the first or second Friday of November. Each year Playathon usually raises between 25 and 30 thousand dollars for the Band Program. This event is essential to keeping Rio Band functioning at the high level that it consistently does, and provides funds for instrument purchase and repair, sheet music, guest artist fees, and scholarships for exceptionally talented and motivated students to be able to travel the nation and the world performing with their peers, regardless of their financial situation.
The AM Jazz Ensemble has been recognized as one the United States' top 15 high school jazz bands at the Essentially Ellington Jazz competition in New York City in 2001, 2002, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014 and most recently in 2019. The ensemble has also won the Monterey Jazz Festival in the High School Big Band category an unprecedented 7 times, and most recently finished second in 2019. They have also won the Reno Jazz festival in their division and/or in the sweepstakes every year since 1993, except for 2006. Though the jazz ensembles tend to perform very well in most competitions, winning is never their goal.
The highest honor awarded to this jazz ensemble in recent years has been being named in Downbeat Magazine as America's top public high school jazz ensemble for the 2018-2019 school year. This is the third year in a row that a band from Rio Americano has been honored in such a distinguished way, with a combo receiving the same award in the combo division in 2017-2018, and the big band receiving it in 2016-2017. The band has also been recognized as a runner up in that competition several times previously, including 2012-2013, and 2014-2015. Downbeat Magazine has been the world's most trusted and highest profile jazz magazine since it launched in the 1930s. In 2018, the band was selected as one of 12 bands nationally to compete in the Swing Central Jazz Competition in Savannah, Georgia, and placed third. In the 2019 school year, the PM Jazz Ensemble, the second tier jazz ensemble, auditioned and was selected for the same festival.
Every two years, eligible students in the top concert and jazz bands go on an international tour during the summer. In past years, Rio Band has toured Japan, China, Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, Uruguay, Spain, Italy, Japan, and Ireland. They plan to visit Austria in the summer of 2018.
The program is currently under the direction of Mr. Josh Murray and Mr. Mitch Evett. From 1982 to 2007, Mr. Craig Faniani was director and shaped the music program at Rio Americano into the program it is today. In 2007, Faniani accepted a new position at the district office as the Coordinator for the Visual and Performing Arts for the San Juan Unified School District, and though he has since retired, he regularly serves as a substitute teacher for various band classes in the program.
In the spring of 2015, San Juan Unified School District approved the construction of a 350-seat theater and music complex as the school's Signature Project. The school board allocated $10.7 million for this music complex, which is being paid for by Measure N bonds. The new complex experienced slight delays, but the new band rooms are operational as of the start of the 2017–2018 school year, with the theatre open in the fall.

Extracurricular activities

Academic Decathlon

In 2005, the Academic Decathlon team placed 15th out of 17 school in the regional competition. With the arrival of new coaches and students in 2006, a team of eight juniors and one senior placed sixth out of 18. Coaches of other regional schools reportedly commented positively on Rio's improvement and success. In 2007, with six team members, Rio placed fifth out of 23 competing teams with five gold medals, four silver, and four bronze. In 2010, the team placed 5th at the competition. In 2011, the team placed 24th out of 25 teams. In 2012, the team placed 18 out of 24 competing teams. In 2017, the team placed 20th out of 22 competing teams. In 2018, the team placed 18th out of 20 competing teams. In 2019, the team placed 19th out of 22 competing teams.

Math Team

Rio Americano has a math team which participates in various math competitions and contests. One of the math competitions is Mathletes, in which teams of 5 students of various grade levels take 10-minute-long short-answer math tests to score points for their team by answering math problems correctly. Another math contest Rio's math team participates in is the AMC. The AMC consists of 25 multiple-choice math problems and is administered every February at school. Students who score well on the AMC move on to take the AIME.

Mock Trial

Mock Trial is a year-round program that places students in a courtroom environment in which they act the parts of attorneys, witnesses, court clerks and bailiffs, in order to better their knowledge in the field of law. Each year the Team participates in competitions organized through the Constitutional Rights Foundations. Rio Americano's Mock Trial Team is known for its continuous record of success at both the County and State level Competitions. The Team has won 13 Sacramento County Championships: 1980, 1982, 1994, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, and 2012. The coach of Rio's Mock Trial Team is local attorney James "Jay" R. Greiner. In 2017, the team placed 3rd in the Sacramento County competition. In 2018, the team placed 2nd in the Sacramento County competition.

Moot Court

Rio Americano's Moot Court team won the GDS Sacramento County competition in 2006 and 2007, placing in the semi-finals in 2009 and 2010. In 2017, the team placed 7th in the Sacramento County competition.

Speech And Debate

Rio's speech and debate class was canceled for the 2010–2011 school year. However, Speech and Debate still runs as a club.
In 2013, Rio Americano sent two members to the California State Tournament in Impromptu Speaking and Expository Speaking. The team also sent a member to the National Forensic League National Tournament in Lincoln-Douglas Debate. In 2013 and 2014, the team sent a member to compete in Dramatic Interpretation to the National Catholic Forensic League National Tournament. The team also barely missed qualifying to the National Forensic League National Tournament in Lincoln-Douglas a second year, placing as the first alternate.

Science Bowl

is an academic competition sponsored by the United States Department of Energy that tests students in various categories of Science including Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Space Science, Earth Science, Energy, and Mathematics. Rio won the Sacramento Regional Competition in 1992 and competed in the national tournament in Washington, DC. At the 2007 Sacramento Regional Competition, Rio's Team A placed 2nd and Team B 3rd. The 2008 Regional Competition took place on March 1 at Rio Americano, in which Team A placed third and Team B fifth. Team C was unranked, as they were not permitted to move on to the double elimination stage. Rio's 2009 Team A took 2nd at the Sacramento Regional Competition, losing only to the eventual national champion team from Mira Loma. At the 2010 regional competition, Team A placed 2nd once again. Rio's Team A tied for 5th place in the 2011 regional competition. In 2012, Rio's Team B tied for 5th place at the regional competition which took place at Rio Americano.

Science Olympiad

is a science competition with various events. In 1992, 1993, and 1995, Rio won the Northern California state Science Olympiad and went on to compete at the national level. Rio finished 12th in the 1992 Olympiad held at Auburn University in Alabama. Rio placed 14th in the 1993 Olympiad held at the University of Southern Colorado in Pueblo. And Rio finished 28th at the 1995 Olympiad held at Indiana University in Bloomington. In 2012, Rio placed 5th at the regional competition which took place at Sacramento State University, and tied for 6th place at the Northern California state competition. In 2013 and 2014, Rio placed 6th at the regional competition, barely missing the cutoff to attend the state competition. In 2017, Rio placed 18th out of 25 at the regional competition.

The Mirada

The Mirada is the school newspaper. You can visit The Mirada's website by clicking here It is put together by a class composed of students of all grade levels. Mostly juniors and seniors are editors, with three seniors serving as editors-in-chief and juniors and seniors editing News, Opinions, Features, Sports, and Distractions. Other students of all grade levels serve as staff writers. The Mirada also has three graphic artists, and one main photographer. There are about 21 staff members overall, with one teacher supervising. The features are: Bachelor and Bachelorette, Prep of the Issue, Car of the Issue and sometimes food reviews. The paper has an issue every month and has won various awards. The raider icon on the front page to the side of the heading changes every month.

Awards

The school's yearbook is called the Tesoro. Each year the Tesoro has a different theme; “In the Moment”, "Generat10n", "The Grass is Greener", "Something in Common", "What's the Difference", "Curious", "Continued Inside", and "Raided R" are the most recent themes. In 2011 the yearbook won 3rd place from the National Scholastic Press Association in their "Best Yearbook Page/Spread" category.. The Tesoro commonly features clubs, sports, outside-of-school activities, senior favorites, quotes and pictures. It also includes features on or about an extraordinary individual, as well as significant moments in the school year. As a celebration of graduation, parents of seniors can submit a page, dedicated to their son or daughter in the "Diapers to Diploma" section, which helps fund the Tesoro team for cameras, fees to the printing company which prints it, as well as offsetting the cost of the yearbook itself so more students can purchase it.

ExploratoRio

This annual Open House activity turns Rio's physics classrooms into a miniature version of San Francisco's Exploratorium. Rio's physics students construct exhibits using the Exploratorium' science snack recipes and recipes developed by Rio's physics teacher, Dean Baird. The students then explain these hands-on exhibits to hundreds of local elementary school students on Rio's Open House day. ExploratoRio reopens during Open House night for the benefit of parents and visitors. Rio physics students are involved in all aspects of ExploratoRio production, including setup, elementary class hosting, photography, exhibiting, publicity, and take-down. ExploratoRio has been an annual, one-day-only event since 1994. Dean Baird was honored with the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching in 2011. He was made a Fellow of The American Association of Physics Teachers in 2014.

Chess Club

The Rio Americano chess club competes in local and state chess tournaments. During the 2010–2011 school year, the team participated in the NorCal online chess league competition, with the Varsity team finishing in 8th place, and the JV team placing 2nd.< In 2011, the chess club placed 2nd in the Premier Division at the NorCal State High School competition. In 2012, the chess club placed 3rd place in the JV Division at the Norcal State High School competition.
Other active extracurriculars on campus include Speech and Debate, Interact Club, and Student Government.

Rio Robotics

Rio Americano's Robotics Team is led by Matthew Cole. Rio Robotics was the first high school team in the San Juan Unified School District to win first place in a regional competition. They later competed in Houston, TX in the FRC Championships.

Athletics

Rio Americano Fight Song

Go Rio Raiders!

Battle the foe for Green and Gold!

Ready to meet all invaders

With our heads held high we will hear the victory cry

And when the battle is over

And on high you’ll hear our name

You will know the Rio Raiders

Have won another game!

Football

1991 Future Pro Bowl lineman, Mike Flanagan, graduated from Rio Americano high school. Mike played for the Green Bay Packers from 1996 to 2005 and for the Houston Texans from 2006 to 2007. Chad Overhauser, also played for the Chicago Bears and Houston Texans.
1990 season: The varsity football team went undefeated during the regular season winning the Capital Valley Conference. They went on to beat Christian Brothers in the playoffs eventually losing to Nevada Union in the City Championship. The team produced several Division I college players Chris Lee, Eric Roof, Mike Flanagan and Chad Overhauser. The year was highlighted by a victory over Roseville team, which was led by future NFL All-Pro Tedy Bruschi. This team is widely considered to be the best in school history. Head coach Mike Smith was named Area coach of the year after the 1990 season.
1994-1995 season: The varsity football team went undefeated during regular season play and lost to Del Oro High School in the Division 2 Section Final, played at University of the Pacific stadium.
1997-1998 season: The varsity football team won SVC league and lost to West HS in the playoffs.
1998-1999 season: The varsity football team were second seed in league and lost to Rio Linda in the playoffs.
In the 2002–2003 season the Raiders were 4–6.
In the 2003–2004 the Raiders finished 5–5.
In the 2007–2008 Football Season the Raiders went 5–5. The team produced four Division 1 College football players.
So far in the 2008–2009 season, the Varsity football Raiders finished 8–3, 4–1 in the CAL league and undefeated at home. They competed in the playoffs for the first time in 10 years.
At the beginning of the 2017-2018 season, former NFL player Sammie Stroughter became the head coach of the program.

Cheerleading

Rio Americano's cheerleading squad consists of three teams: freshmen, junior varsity, and varsity. The cheerleaders perform at school rallies and attend every football game, as well as all home girls' and boys' basketball games.

Song Team

The Song Team is an affiliate of Rio's cheerleading program. The Song Team performs at all rallies and limited football and basketball games.

Boys' Soccer

1995 Sasha Victorine graduated. Victorine played in the 2000 Summer Olympics, for the Los Angeles Galaxy, the Kansas City Wizards and currently Chivas USA.
The Varsity Boys tied Jesuit High School in an exhibition match on October 17, 2007, 0–0, and have consistently made it to the playoffs. They shared the Capital Athletic League title with Bella Vista in 2008–2009 finishing the regular season with a record of 12–3–6.
In 2009 the Varsity Boys, coached by Alan Posner, went undefeated in the Capital Athletic League and played in the Division III Championship Game, where they lost to its rival El Camino High School. The 2009 team featured many players who went on to play in college including: Austin Kinn, Tyler Kinn, Grant Silvester, and Harris Levin.

Water polo

A school sport since 1995, Girls' Water Polo has won 8 straight Division 2 Sac-Joaquin Section titles. Rafael Ruano has coached the girls' water polo team since 1997. Dozens of players have gone on to play in college, including UC Berkeley, UC Davis, UC Santa Barbara, USC, Santa Clara, Brown, Pomona, Claremont, Redlands, CSU Monterey Bay, American River College and Cuesta College
The Rio Americano Varsity boys have been section champions in 1996, 2003, 2010, and 2011. In 2011, the team beat El Camino, 9–2, in the Sac Joaquin Section Division II Championship. The Rio Americano Boys' Water Polo program has produced several college players including Division I players Brian Kinsel and Matt Hillard, both of whom played for UC Berkeley.

Cross country

The Rio Americano cross-country teams are coached by Anton Escay.

Basketball

Starting the season with a Jack Scott Tournament win in 2002, the Rio Varsity Boys' basketball team won the Division II Section title at ARCO Arena and continued on to the state semi-finals held at UC Davis, finishing third in the state.
The boys' basketball team won the 2006 and 2007 Jack Scott Tournament, a tournament hosted by Rio.
During the 2007–2008 season, the Raiders won their second Jack Scott Tournament in a row. This was the first time they had won the jack Scott tourney three years in a row.. The team is now coached by Chris Jones, who has led the Raiders to three straight CIF Tournament appearances

Wrestling

The wrestling team is coached by Kelly Lanthier. She has coached there for three years. Greg Elie, a four-time Michigan State wrestling champion, is currently her assistant coach. His first year under Kelly Lanthier was their best year in history, bringing eight kids to the Master's Tournament. This feat has yet to be matched by any one in the history of the school.

Golf

The team is coached by Brady Yount and assistant coach Mark Shepherd.
2007 season for Boys' Varsity Golf was 6 wins - 4 losses

Girls' Soccer

The Varsity Girls' Soccer has been a consistently strong team. They were national ranked in 1999 and 2000. They were second-place finishers in Division II Section in 2001, losing 4–1 to Saint Francis. They won the section title in 2007, defeating Bella Vista 6–0 in the championship game. Under the coaching of Jennifer Smiley, they remained undefeated throughout their 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, and 2013 season and won the Division III Section title.

Swimming & Diving

The head coach of Rio Americano Swimming is Chris Nissen, who led the Varsity Girls to a Section title in the 2008 season, and the Varsity Boys to a second-place finish. Seniors Kevin Ferguson and Tomi Petty were the Capitol Athletic Swimmers of the Year, leading the team to victory at the Cal Champs meet. At the 2008 San Jauqin Sections meet the Raider's finished 2nd overall to Jesuit High. The Raiders's finished first in two races, the 200 and 400 yard free relay.
In 2010 both varsity teams took first in Championships as did the boys' junior varsity team. The girls' junior varsity team tied for second.

Boys' Tennis

The Boys' Tennis Team has been division champions for the past six years. In 2008, Rio's tennis team lost in the section semifinals to Granite Bay High School. In 2014, Rio Americano won the D2 San Joaquin Section title under Coaches Todd Freund and Dave Pitts. The team repeated their success in 2015, winning the section title again and getting as far as Norcal Quarterfinals.

Boys' Volleyball

The Boys' volleyball team is currently coached by Gary Garrot and Ms. Sumnitra. In 2015, they defeated Ponderosa High School to become CIF SJS division II champs. They ended up losing to Campolindo 3–0 in the Norcal finals that same year.

Track & Field

The track & field teams are coached by Gordon Hubble and assistant coaches Tay Moore and Darin Carter. In 1990 Rio Americano's 4x100 relay team led California with a time of 41.80 set at the Sacramento Meet of Champions by TorranceYork, Mike Beata, Jeff Younger and Ato White. The Rio Americano varsity boys' team won the 2007 SJS Division II Section title with a total of 46 points, beating Oak Ridge High School by 3 points. At the 2007 SJS Section Masters meet, the track team qualified four athletes to the CIF State Meet.

Rugby

Rio, lacks an officially sanctioned rugby team, with students playing for multiple Sacramento-Area club teams. Though now defunct, the school used to have a team that played under the name "Rio Rugby." The Team was coached by Jason Crothers, and took fourth place in the Sacramento Valley High School Rugby Conference. Players did not come exclusively from Rio, some came from nearby El Camino High School.

Civitas

Rio Americano offers Academia Civitas, a four-year program of political studies. The program offers one semester each of Political Studies and State & Local Government in Freshmen year. Sophomores take one semester of Public Speaking and one semester of International relations. Juniors take a year of Philosophy. Seniors have no civitas class, but instead do a senior project, which can consist of forums and other community events. The Civitas program provides students with advanced and specialized learning in the social sciences and an enriched sense of citizenship. In 2018, Civitas coordinator Linda Reed retired and teacher Nina Seibel became coordinator.

Notable alumni