Granby High School

Granby High School
Address
7101 Granby Street Norfolk , Virginia 23505 United States
Information
Former name	Granby Street High School [1]
School type	Public, high school
Motto	Ad astra per aspera ("through hardships to the stars")
Founded	1939;84 years ago (1939)
School district	Norfolk Public Schools
Principal	Thomas R. Smigiel Jr. [2]
Teaching staff	131.56 (FTE) (2021-22) [3]
Grades	9–12
Enrollment	1,863 (2021-22) [3]
Student to teacher ratio	14.16 (2021-22) [3]
Campus	Urban (midsize) [3]
Color(s)	Silver   Gold   Blue
Athletics conference	VHSL – AAA Eastern Region (Eastern District)
Team name	Comets
Rival	Maury High School
Communities served	Ocean View Willoughby Spit Talbot Park Wards Corner Colonial Place Park Place Titustown
Website	Official website

Plaque in front of Granby High.

An archaic coat of arms granted to Granby High School, and it is no longer in use.

Two Granby defenders break up a pass from Great Bridge's quarterback at Granby's Powhatan Field.

Granby's Field Hockey Team at a match against Cox High School.

Granby High School (originally Granby Street High School) is a public high school in Norfolk, Virginia. The school is part of the Norfolk Public Schools system. It is the only high school in the school division that offers an International Baccalaureate program. The school building is located on historic Granby Street where the south end is at Downtown Norfolk and the north end where the beaches of Ocean View lie. Granby is also less than a mile away from the historic Wards Corner, a local shopping and eating center. In 2010, Newsweek placed Granby in the top 1300 of "America's Top Public High Schools". Granby was the only school in Norfolk, VA to place on the list.^{[ citation needed ]} Granby's mascot is the comet.

History

Opened in 1939, the school was previously known as Granby Street High School, reflecting the street on which it is located. Both the street and the school are named after John Manners, Marquess of Granby and Duke of Rutland, a hero of the Seven Years' War. The twenty-four acre tract on which Granby was built was once part of the Talbot Plantation before the property was donated to the city by Minton W. Talbot.

Blue, Gold, and Silver are the school colors. Blue representing the color of the Chesapeake Bay, which is in Granby's vicinity. The gold and silver are derived from the proverb: "A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver." This quote is also hung on a plaque in the hallway.^{[ citation needed ]}

Granby's school symbol is the comet. It also has a newspaper entitled "The Spectator," and annually publishes a literary magazine called "The Cupola," named after the structure on the top of the school's roof.^{[ citation needed ]} The weathervane on top of the cupola was bent as a result of tropical storm Ernesto but was fixed within six months.^{[ citation needed ]}

"Granby 1" and "Granby 2"

In 1996, the school system invested $21 million in a construction project in order to expand and renovate the 57-year-old building. Because of this construction, the entire student body could not stay in the original building. To fix this problem, the 1100 freshmen and sophomores were sent to the former Norfolk Catholic High building a half-mile away from the building. Catholic High was vacant at the time since Catholic High moved to Virginia Beach. The Catholic High building was nicknamed "Granby 2" while the original building was "Granby 1." Under Principal Michael Caprio, the school had to double everything including scheduling, busing, orientation, and lunches. Several headaches later, the 20,000-square-foot (1,900 m²) expansion was complete with a comprehensive voice, video, and high-speed data network and a media resource management system for 110 classrooms and laboratories. In addition, the building gained two multimedia presentation rooms and an innovative CCTV security system.

International Baccalaureate Program

Granby High School is the only high school in the Norfolk Public Schools system that offers the International Baccalaureate Program, or IB, abbreviated. Specifically known as the IB Diploma Program, the program is a two-year academically rigorous curriculum intended for juniors and seniors who desire in-depth scholastic preparation for college or university.

Sports at Granby High

Granby High School offers a variety of sports as it is a member of the AAA Eastern Region of the Virginia High School League. Comets compete in the AAA Eastern District which is composed of the five Norfolk high schools and the three Portsmouth high schools. The sports offered at Granby include:

• Baseball, Junior Varsity
• Baseball, Varsity
• Basketball, Boys
• Basketball, Girls
• Basketball, Junior Varsity, Boys
• Basketball, Junior Varsity, Girls
• Cheerleader, Junior Varsity
• Cheerleaders, Varsity
• Crew
• Cross Country
• Field Hockey
• Football
• Golf
• Sailing (combination of students from Granby, Matthew Fontaine Maury High School, and Saint Patrick Catholic School)
• Soccer, Boys
• Soccer, Girls
• Softball
• Softball Junior Varsity
• Swimming, Boys
• Swimming, Girls
• Table tennis
• Tennis, Boys
• Tennis, Girls
• Track, Indoor
• Track, Outdoor
• Volleyball, Boys
• Volleyball, Girls

• Wrestling—Wrestling coach Billy Martin's teams won 21 state titles in 22 seasons at Granby High from 1949 to 1970. In the decade of the 1960s, Granby lost only two matches. ^[4] Martin's most famous invention was the "Granby roll", a move that used an opponent's aggressiveness against him. It became the basis of the "Granby System," which is still taught today. He was elected to the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1980, one of the first high school coaches inducted. ^[4]

Granby Marching Comets

Comets at the ACCs in 2006.

Granby High School is home to the Marching Comets, a drum-corps style marching band currently led by Mr. Joshua Stone, who have competed in the Tournament of Bands. Under the direction of Mr. Steve Clendenin, the Comets have traveled as far as Scranton, Pennsylvania to compete in the Atlantic Coast Championships (ACCs) with field shows titled "The Mask of Zorro" and "La Corrida de Torres." (The Bullfight) In 2006, the Marching Comets earned the title of Group II ACC Invitational Class Champions with "La Corrida de Torres."

Notable alumni

• John E. Blaha – astronaut ^[5]
• Peter Blair – Olympic freestyle wrestler, competed at the 1956 Summer Olympics
• Levi Brown – former NFL offensive tackle
• Keyshawn Davis – Olympic Lightweight boxer, competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics
• Lefty Driesell – former college basketball coach
• Hank Foiles – former MLB catcher
• Grant Gustin – actor, played in shows Glee and The Flash ^[6]
• Erika Renee Land – author
• Dexter Reid – former NFL safety and two-time Super Bowl champion
• Nick Rerras – former politician
• Chuck Stobbs – former MLB pitcher
• Scott Travis – Grammy award winning American rock musician, drummer
• R. Steven Whitcomb – 63rd Inspector General of the United States Army
• Terrance Woodbury – professional basketball player

Notable former teachers and staff

• Bob Tata – retired long-time member of the Virginia House of Delegates, coached football at Granby

See also

• Granby Street
• John Manners, Marquess of Granby

References

1. "About Our School / Overview". Granby High School. Norfolk Public Schools. Archived from the original on August 28, 2017. Retrieved June 30, 2019.
2. "Administration / Overview". Granby High School. Norfolk Public Schools. Archived from the original on August 28, 2017. Retrieved June 30, 2019.
3. "Search for Public Schools - Granby High (510267001098)". National Center for Education Statistics . Institute of Education Sciences . Retrieved December 14, 2023.
4. "Billy Martin Sr., father of wrestling in Virginia, dies at 89". The Virginian-Pilot . March 29, 2007. Archived from the original on June 30, 2019. Retrieved June 30, 2019.
5. "Astronaut Bio: John E. Blaha (05/2008)". Johnson Space Center . NASA. Archived from the original on June 16, 2008.
6. Houp, Will (March 30, 2016). "Granby High grad Grant Gustin to star in William H. Macy's dramedy "Krystal"". The Virginian-Pilot . Archived from the original on April 17, 2016. Retrieved June 30, 2019.

External links

• Official website
• Norfolk Public Schools

36°54′25.9″N76°16′37.7″W / 36.907194°N 76.277139°W / 36.907194; -76.277139