Norcross High School is a public high school in Norcross,

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to t ...

, United States, part of the Gwinnett County School System, and serving the cities of Norcross and Peachtree Corners. The school's mascot is the Blue Devil. The school is also the first in the Gwinnett County Public School System to offer the

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, first implemented in 1999.

History

Twentieth century

Municipal bond A municipal bond, commonly known as a muni, is a bond issued by state or local governments, or entities they create such as authorities and special districts. In the United States, interest income received by holders of municipal bonds is often, ...

s were issued for a new modern brick schoolhouse in 1903, and another bond issue approved an additional school in 1914. These buildings stood side by side on College Street for many years in the center of Norcross and were preceded by an old wooden building at the same site. Before this older wooden school was destroyed, it became very unsteady. After the second red-brick building was constructed as a

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school, ...

, the first building became Norcross High School. Both of the brick schools were demolished several years ago, although the first building was in use until 1970. According to a booklet compiled in 1923 and recently reprinted, the rural schools surrounding Norcross were Beaver Ruin with 60 students, Glover with 172, Mechanicsville School with 87, and Pittman with 60. Crabapple School, which was located at Pinckneyville, had apparently closed earlier. In 1933, a report printed in ''Flanigan's History, Volume I'' stated, "Norcross has three buildings valued at $60,000, and used thirteen teachers. For many years this has been one of the best schools in the county and is accredited first class." A school for black children was located near Hopewell Baptist Church at that time, according to Clara Nesbit. "Norcross Elementary School" was built in 1939, and the Board of Trustees of the Norcross Consolidated School System listed on the cornerstone were H. L. Sudderth, J. Howard Webb, B. F. Summerour, B. W. Westbrook and C. A. Garner. This school is still in use, although many additions have been built through the years. With the completion of the new elementary school, the two older buildings "on the hill" became Norcross High School. When West Gwinnett High School was built in 1957, parents of

Duluth , settlement_type = City , nicknames = Twin Ports (with Superior), Zenith City , motto = , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top: urban Duluth skyline; Minnesota ...

students objected to consolidation and fought successfully to have a new high school built in Duluth. The citizens of Norcross later asked to have the name West Gwinnett changed back to Norcross High School. The school colors, blue and white, and the school mascot, the Blue Devil, were chosen by the students in 1957 when football was played as a school sport for the first time.

Present day

Norcross High School opened a facility at 5300 Spalding Drive in Norcross in August 2001. This land was purchased by the Gwinnett County Public School System as the

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cleared the land of trees. The new building shared the same design as its Gwinnett County neighbor,

Peachtree Ridge High School Peachtree Ridge High School (PRHS) is a public high school in Gwinnett County, in Suwanee, Georgia, United States. It is a part of Gwinnett County Public Schools. It is one of two public schools in the county to use block scheduling, the other ...

. The former facility at 2595 Beaver Ruin Road was renamed the Buchanan High School of Technology, which until July 2013 housed the Gwinnett Online Campus and

GIVE Center West The Gwinnett County Public School District is a school district operating in Gwinnett County, Georgia, United States. GCPS is the largest school system in Georgia,alternative school An alternative school is an educational establishment with a curriculum and methods that are nontraditional. Such schools offer a wide range of philosophies and teaching methods; some have strong political, scholarly, or philosophical orientati ...

. In January 2013, the Gwinnett County Board of Education voted to move GIVE and the online center to a new location, and the original Norcross High School was demolished. All existing buildings with the exception of the 1996 gymnasium were removed making way for the relocated Summerour Middle School, which opened for the 2015–2016 school year. The previous Summerour building had been next to the old NHS, and was itself torn down to make way for the new Baldwin Elementary. The school opened with a student population of 2,400, and as of 2015 had an estimated 4,000, one of the largest high schools in the state. It has since slightly decreased since the opening of nearby Paul Duke STEM High School in the 2018–2019 school year, which opened in part to relieve overcrowding at Norcross.

Athletics

Norcross competes in Region 7-AAAAAAA. The school's mascot is the Blue Devil. The school competes in football,

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding ...

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensi ...

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

, cross country,

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

and diving,

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 incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping ...

, soccer,

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball c ...

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

marching band A marching band is a group of instrumental musicians who perform while marching, often for entertainment or competition. Instrumentation typically includes brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. Most marching bands wear a uniform, ...

, and competitive cheerleading. Norcross varsity boys' basketball team won the Class AAAAA Georgia state championship in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2011, and the Class AAAAAA state championship 2013 and 2022. The girls won the basketball state championship in 2010, 2011, and 2022. The Norcross football team won the 2012 and 2013 state championships.

Notable alumni

* Al-Farouq Aminu, NBA basketball player * Jeff Backus, former NFL football player * Brandon Boston Jr., NBA basketball player *

Brice Butler Brice Christian Butler (born January 29, 1990) is a former American football wide receiver. He was drafted by the Oakland Raiders in the seventh round of the 2013 NFL Draft. He played college football at USC and San Diego State. Early years ...

, NFL football player *

Jake Camarda Jack Jacob Camarda (born April 20, 1999) is an American football punter for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). He previously played college football at Georgia and was named SEC Special Teams Player of the Year in 20 ...

, NFL football player *

Lorenzo Carter Major Lorenzo Carter was the first permanent settler in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. Born in 1767, Carter spent his early years in Warren, Connecticut, where he visited the local library frequently and developed an appreciation of books. W ...

, NFL football player * Jason Croom, NFL football player *

Geremy Davis Geremy Davis (born January 10, 1992) is a former American football wide receiver. He played college football at University of Connecticut. College career Davis set UConn Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) records with 165 career receptions and ...

, NFL football player * Diamond DeShields, WNBA basketball player * Max Garcia, NFL football player * Brandon Goodwin, NBA basketball player * Larry Grant, former NFL football player * Chris Herndon, NFL football player *

Alvin Kamara Alvin Mentian Kamara (born July 25, 1995) is an American football running back for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Tennessee after transferring from Hutchinson Community College and w ...

, NFL football player * Jeremy Lamb, NBA basketball player *

Gani Lawal Gani Oladimeji Lawal Jr. (born November 7, 1988) is a Nigerian-American professional basketball player for Trotamundos in the Venezuelan SuperLiga. He played college basketball for Georgia Tech. High school career During his time at Norcross H ...

, former NBA basketball player * Chandler Massey, actor * Jodie Meeks, NBA basketball player * JT Thor, NBA basketball player * Lajon Witherspoon, lead singer of

Sevendust Sevendust is an American rock band from Atlanta, Georgia, formed in 1994 by bassist Vince Hornsby, drummer Morgan Rose and rhythm guitarist John Connolly. After their first demo, lead vocalist Lajon Witherspoon and lead guitarist Clint Lo ...

Other programs

In 1996, Norcross High School's band received the Legion of Honor award from the John Philip Sousa Foundation

References

External links

Norcross High School
{{authority control Public high schools in Georgia (U.S. state) Schools in Gwinnett County, Georgia 1903 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) Educational institutions established in 1903