Granby High School (originally Granby Street High School) is a

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichk ...

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

in Norfolk, Virginia. The school is part of the

Norfolk Public Schools The Norfolk Public Schools, also known as Norfolk City Public Schools, are the school division responsible for public education in the United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. ...

system. It is the only high school in the

school division A school division is a geographic division over which a school board has jurisdiction. Canada In Canada the term is used for the area controlled by a school board and is used interchangeably with school district, including in the formal name of the ...

that offers an

International Baccalaureate The International Baccalaureate (IB), formerly known as the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO), is a nonprofit foundation headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and founded in 1968. It offers four educational programmes: the IB D ...

program. The school building is located on historic

Granby Street U.S. Route 460 (US 460) in Virginia runs west-east through the southern part of the Commonwealth. The road has two separate pieces in Virginia, joined by a relatively short section in West Virginia. Most of US 460 is a four-lane divided high ...

where the south end is at

Downtown Norfolk Downtown Norfolk serves as the traditional center of commerce, government, and culture in the Hampton Roads region. Norfolk, Virginia's downtown waterfront shipping and port activities historically played host to numerous and often noxious port and ...

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 ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely ...

'' 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. 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 Duke of Rutland is a title in the Peerage of England, named after Rutland, a county in the East Midlands of England. Earldoms named after Rutland have been created three times; the ninth earl of the third creation was made duke in 1703, in whos ...

, a hero of the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (175 ...

. 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 The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula (including the parts: the Eastern Shore of Maryland / ...

, 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. Granby's school symbol is the

comet A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that, when passing close to the Sun, warms and begins to release gases, a process that is called outgassing. This produces a visible atmosphere or coma, and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena ...

. 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. The weathervane on top of the

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, most often dome-like, tall structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome. The word derives, via Italian, fro ...

was bent as a result of tropical storm Ernesto but was fixed within six months.

"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 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

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 Matthew Fontaine Maury High School also known as Maury High School, is a high school located in the Ghent area of Norfolk, Virginia, United States. Maury's school mascot is the Commodore. The high school is named for Matthew Fontaine Maury. In 2 ...

, 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 Alfred Manuel Martin Jr. (May 16, 1928 – December 25, 1989), commonly called "Billy", was an American Major League Baseball second baseman and manager who, in addition to leading other teams, was five times the manager of the New York Yan ...

'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. Martin's most famous invention was the "

Granby roll The Granby roll is a wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorpor ...

", 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.

Granby Marching Comets

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 The Tournament of Bands (TOB) is one of the largest competitive band organizations in the United States and is one of several major circuits in the mid-Atlantic states (other circuits include Cavalcade of Bands and USBands). TOB was founded in 197 ...

. Under the direction of Mr. Steve Clendenin, the Comets have traveled as far as

Scranton, Pennsylvania Scranton is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Lackawanna County. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 U.S. census, Scranton is the largest city in Northeastern Pennsylvania, the Wyoming V ...

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 * Peter Blair – Olympic

freestyle wrestler Freestyle wrestling is a style of wrestling originated from Great Britain and the United States. Along with Greco-Roman, it is one of the two styles of wrestling contested in the Olympic Games. American high school and men's college wrestling i ...

, competed at the 1956 Summer Olympics * Levi Brown – former NFL offensive tackle * Keyshawn Davis – Olympic

Lightweight Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing. Boxing Professional boxing The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) weight class in the sport of boxing. Notable lightweight ...

boxer, competed at the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

Lefty Driesell Charles Grice "Lefty" Driesell (born December 25, 1931) is a retired American college basketball coach. He was the first coach to win more than 100 games at four different NCAA Division I schools, Driesell led the programs of Davidson College, ...

– former college basketball coach *

Hank Foiles Henry Lee Foiles Jr. (born June 10, 1929) is an American former professional baseball player. He played as a catcher in Major League Baseball between and . He had an eleven-year career for seven different teams in Major League Baseball. He was ...

– former

MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

catcher *

Grant Gustin Thomas Grant Gustin (born January 14, 1990) is an American actor and singer. He is best known for his roles as Barry Allen / The Flash on The CW series ''The Flash'' as part of the Arrowverse, and as Sebastian Smythe on the Fox series '' Gl ...

– actor, played in shows ''

Glee Glee means delight, a form of happiness. Glee may also refer to: * Glee (music), a type of English choral music * ''Glee'' (TV series), an American musical comedy-drama TV series, and related media created by Ryan Murphy * ''Glee'' (Bran Van 30 ...

'' and '' The Flash'' * Erika Renee Land – author *

Dexter Reid Dexter Devon Reid Jr. (born March 18, 1981) is a former American football safety. He was drafted by the New England Patriots in the fourth round of the 2004 NFL Draft after playing his college football at the University of North Carolina. Reid is ...

– former NFL

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are two slightly dif ...

and two-time Super Bowl champion * Nick Rerras – former politician * Chuck Stobbs – former

pitcher *

Scott Travis Mark Scott Travis (born September 6, 1961) is an American metal musician, best known as the drummer for the English heavy metal band Judas Priest, the Irish rock band Thin Lizzy and the supergroup Elegant Weapons. He was also a longtime member ...

– Grammy award winning American rock musician, drummer * R. Steven Whitcomb – 63rd Inspector General of the United States Army *

Terrance Woodbury Terrance Woodbury (born June 16, 1987) is an American professional basketball player who plays for the Kumamoto Volters of the B.League. Born in Norfolk, Virginia, he played at Granby High School in Norfolk, with his senior season at Coastal C ...

– professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player

Notable former teachers and staff

* Bob Tata – retired long-time member of the

Virginia House of Delegates The Virginia House of Delegates is one of the two parts of the Virginia General Assembly, the other being the Senate of Virginia. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-number ...

, coached football at Granby

References

External links

*
Norfolk Public Schools
{{Coord, 36, 54, 25.9, N, 76, 16, 37.7, W, display=title Educational institutions established in 1939 Schools in Norfolk, Virginia Public high schools in Virginia International Baccalaureate schools in Virginia 1939 establishments in Virginia