James E. Taylor High School (THS) is a public high school in unincorporated Harris County, Texas, in Greater Katy. The school, in Nottingham Country, which serves grades 9 through 12, is part of Katy Independent School District. Established in 1979, Taylor High School is a Blue Ribbon School and is ranked among the best in graduation rates, SAT scores, college admittance, and AP scores in the nation. In 2013 the school was ranked the 536th "Best High School in the Nation" by Newsweek Magazine. Namesake 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 which opened its second Class 5A high school in 1979, named James E. Taylor High School. Awards and honors Academics 5A Academic Decathlon National Champions: 1997, 2000 5A Academic Decathlon State Champions: 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 National Blue Ribbon School: 1994, 1995, 1996 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 HP Code Wars Champions: 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008 Texas A&M Regional Science Bowl champions: 2006 Athletics State championships UIL wrestling state champions (women): 2006, 2012 UIL swimming and diving state champions (men): 2001, 2003 UIL soccer state champions (women): 2006 UIL tennis state team champions: 1997, 1998, 2002 UIL tennis state doubles champions (women): 2008, 2011 UIL tennis singles champions (men):1999, 2004, 2007 2011, 2013 Notable alumni and staff Arts and entertainment Janeane Garofalo - comedian and actress Mark Matejka - guitarist for Lynyrd Skynyrd Emily Neves – voice actress 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 Newsweek rankings Newsweek Magazine annually compiles a list of "America's Top Public High Schools," and Taylor has been listed