Norcross High School
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| Norcross High School | |
| Established | 1827 |
| School type | Public school |
| Religious affiliation | {{{religion}}} |
| Principal | Jonathan Patterson |
| Enrollment | 2,800 |
| Location | Norcross, Georgia, USA |
| Color(s) | blue, silver, and white |
| Mascot | Blue Devils |
| Homepage | www.gwinnett.k12.ga.us/NorcrossHS |
Norcross High School is a school in Norcross, Georgia. It is part of the Gwinnett County Public Schools system.
The current Norcross High School occupies a 440,000 square foot facility at 5300 Spalding Drive, Norcross, Georgia that opened in August 2001. Jonathan Patterson has been principal at Norcross since August 2006. Norcross is the only high school in the Gwinnett County School System to have the IB Diploma Programme (1999).
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[edit] History
The 1900's
Bonds were issued for a new modern brick school building 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, 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 reprinted recently, the rural schools surrounding Norcross were Beaver Ruin with 60 students, Glover with 172, Mechanicsville 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 corner stone 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 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
Norcross High School opened a 440,000 square foot facility at 5300 Spalding Drive, Norcross, Georgia in August of 2001. This land was purchased by the school by the Gwinnett County Public School System because a tornado in 1990 cleared the land of trees. The new building opened with a student population of 2,400 students. Today the Norcross High School student body has an estimated 2,800 pupils.
[edit] International Baccalaureate
In 1999, Norcross High School became the first high school in Gwinnett County to offer the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme to high school juniors and seniors. This program, was implemented to offer a different curriculum for motivated students. IB Diploma students have classes independent of the majority of the student body. IB Certificate students can get a certification in some IB courses that they are interested in without having to complete the entire Diploma Programme. Norcross also offers a pre-IB program to underclassmen in order for them to take some state required courses that must be done before taking higher level IB courses.
[edit] Athletics
The school's mascot is the Blue Devil. The school competes in football, baseball, softball, track and field, cross country, swimming and diving, wrestling, golf, tennis, volleyball, competitive cheerleading, and roller hockey. Norcross' athletic teams play in Region 7-AAAAA with other Gwinnett and Forsyth County high school teams.
Norcross High's athletic program has received recognition in recent years for its boys' basketball program, coached by Eddie Martin. Norcross varsity boys basketball team won the Class AAAAA Georgia state championship in 2006 and 2007, after finishing as the state runner-up in 2005. The boy's basketball team has had press coverage in USA Today, which ranked the Blue Devils as the #2 high school basketball program in the nation in a preseason poll, and through ESPN2, which carried a national broadcast of the Blue Devils' game against #1 ranked Oak Hill Academy (VA) in December 2006.
Norcross's football team had some success in the early 1990s, including a region championship in 1994. However, the Blue Devils had their most successful season in 2006 under head coach Keith Maloof. The varsity football team went undefeated in the regular season, winning their region and earning a #1 state ranking at the end of the regular season by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. They eventually lost in the third round of the state AAAAA playoffs to Warner Robins.
[edit] Fine Arts
The Norcross High School Band
The Norcross High School Band Program has attained regional and national recognition. Under previous director William J. Pharris, the program earned the Sulder Flag of Honor, an award granted by the John Phillip Sousa Foundation for consistent superior musical performance. The current head director of bands is Rudy Gilbert, and the assistant director is Matt Koperniak.
In 2005, the band gave the main performance at the University of Georgia January Music Festival. The ensemble most recently performed at the Georgia Music Educators Association Convention in January 2007. On March 17, 2007, the Wind Symphony earned straight superior ratings for the fourth consecutive year in the GMEA Large Group Performance Evaluation.
The Norcross High School Marching Band has grown from 110 members in 2002 to 170 members in 2006. The band consistently earns "superior" ratings and in 2004 came away Grand Champion of the Rome Marching Classic with the show "Movin' Out: the Music of Billy Joel."
The concert band program consists of three groups: the Concert Band, the Symphonic Band, and the Wind Symphony. 34 members of the Norcross band earned seats in the District XIII Honor Bands in the 2006-2007 school year.
The Norcross High School Orchestra
The Orchesta is made up of 250 students Taught by Cathie Hudnall and Allison Bates, the four orchestras (in order of performance level), the Philharmonic, the Symphonic, the Concert Silver, and the Concert Blue, all allow violinists, violists, cellists, and bassists to perform string music.
In 2005, the Norcross Philharmonic Orchestra was the featured performance group at the UGA Fall Orchestra Camp and received an invitation to perform at the GMEA Music Conference in Savannah, Georgia. The Philharmonic also finished as the top public school orchestra in the nation at the 2006 American String Teacher Association's National Orchestra Festival in Kansas City, Missouri. That year also, Norcross had more orchestra players qualify for the GMEA All-State Orchestra than any other high school in Georgia. The Philharmonic Orchestra will perform at Carnegie Hall in New York City in April 2007.
Norcross Theatre Arts
Led by Gina "Pev" Parrish, the Norcross Theatre program has been very successful. They consistently rank high in the GHSA one-act play competition. In 2004, they won Region 7AAAAA and placed third in the state. The Theatre Arts Department produces a variety of shows a year with consistently sold out houses. Randy Kemper is the other theatre teacher who is responsible for the beginning classes. Mr. Kemper directs the children's' show, which enables hundreds of elementary students to see live theatre. Pev runs the advanced program consisting of classes ranging from Stage Craft to Musical Production Workshop. The NHS Theatre program is proud of the variety of theatre courses offered to the students. NHS Thespian are involved in community service projects as well as performing. Trick Or Treat so Kids can eat is the annual can food drive to help the less fortunate.
[edit] Notable Alumni
- Mary Ellen Blanchard - American swimmer
- Jeff Backus- USA Today All-American; starting offensive lineman for the University of Michigan and first-round pick by the Detroit Lions of the National Football League.
- Jodie Meeks- 2006 Gwinnett County Boys Basketball Player of the Year; 2006 Atlanta Journal-Constitution Boys Basketball Player of the Year; University of Kentucky shooting guard.
- Lillian Webb- current mayor of Norcross, Georgia.
