Introduction

Granby High School opened its doors in September, 1939 as the second white-only public high school in Norfolk, Virginia. Its classic colonial-style building sat in an affluent neighborhood in the city, and was the educator of many of its future civic leaders.

The colonial-style Granby High School building opened its doors in 1939. Following two years of construction, renovation was completed in 1998 clearing the way for an internal school reform effort.

School desegregation in the late 1950s in Norfolk changed all that. When cross-town busing was implemented, white families started sending their children to private schools, causing districtwide enrollment to eventually drop from 60,000 to 35,000. Gradually, Granby became a high school in distress with low academic achievement and a high incidence of behavioral problems.

The school building faced a similar fate. The formidable school of red brick with arches and turret, once the pride of the community, was in bad shape. The Norfolk Public Schools was well aware of the problems. In 1996 the city of Norfolk made $28 million available to Granby to renovate its aging building.