The school opened in 1961 and served students in grades nine through twelve, until its closure in May 2024.

It was named for Stephen H. Rider, a long-time educator in the Wichita Falls Independent School District.

[3] Although Rider did not open until seven years after the U.S. Supreme Court's Brown v. Board of Education decision, none of Wichita Falls's high schools integrated their classes until the late 1960s.

[8] In 2016, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) gave Rider an academic accountability rating of "Met standard".

[9] In 2017, four "preliminary" grades were given to Rider: a B, two Cs, and a D.[9] In 1970, Wichita Falls Independent School District built Memorial Stadium, the first high school stadium in Texas with AstroTurf.