Grayson High School

Grayson High School
Address
50 Hope Hollow Road Loganville , Georgia 30052 United States
Coordinates	33°52′06″N 83°55′26″W
Information
Type	Public
Motto	First comes Learning
Established	2000
School district	Gwinnett County Public Schools
Principal	Dana Pugh
Grades	9–12
Enrollment	2,989 (2017-2018)
Campus	Suburban/rural
Color(s)	Green, gold, and navy blue
Nickname	Rams
Accreditation	SACS
Information	770-554-1071
Region	8A in Class AAAAAA (GHSA)
Website	Grayson High School

Grayson High School is located in Loganville, Georgia, nearly in Walton County, and has a population of over 2,500 students. The school pulls students from many areas of southeastern Gwinnett County, mainly Grayson, Loganville, and Lawrenceville.

General information

Building information

Front entrance of Grayson High School

Construction on the current Grayson High School building began in August 1998 and the school opened its doors in 2000. The building has 65 classrooms, but as the student body has outgrown it, over 50 trailers are located behind of the building. The Grayson Technical Education School extends past the main high school building and has a greenhouse and Black Box theater among many other facilities. The school’s current demographics for the 2017-2018 school year goes as follows: 41% African-American, 38% White, 11% Hispanic, 5% Asian, and 5% Mixed Race or Other.

Grayson’s main rival is the Archer Tigers and Grayson has always been proven to be a better school academically and in its athletics compared to Archer High School.

History

School beginnings

The original Grayson High School was established in 1913, but in 1956 the school zone merged into South Gwinnett's school district. What is left of the original two-story brick veneered building is now part of Grayson Elementary School. The bell, given to Grayson High School in 1913 as a gift from 9th District Congressman Thomas M. Bell, still stands outside of Grayson Elementary in downtown Grayson as a well-known landmark.

Plans for the new Grayson High School began in the mid-1990s to relieve the neighboring, overpopulated high schools South Gwinnett and Brookwood. A committee of educators from Gwinnett County convened to create and discuss specifications for the facility. The school officially opened in 2000.

Principal history

• Mike Moody (2000-2003)
• Keith Chaney (2003-2008)
• David Hopson (2009-2013)
• Dana Pugh (2014–present)

Feeder schools

Elementary schools

• Pharr Elementary (Snellville)
• Grayson Elementary (Grayson)
• Starling Elementary (Grayson)
• Trip Elementary (Loganville)

Middle schools

• Bay Creek Middle (Loganville)
• Couch Middle (Grayson)

Awards

• Grayson High School Robotics Team were 2011 TSA State Champions, 2011 Programming Champions, 2009 Champions, and competed at the World Robotics Championship in 2009, 2010, and 2012. The team finished 8th in the world in 2011.
• Grayson High School was ranked in the top 5% of high schools in the nation by Newsweek Magazine.
• A total of 738 Advanced Placement tests were administered to Grayson students, with 67.8% scoring a 3 or higher.
• Grayson was ranked in the top 20% of high schools in Georgia by the Georgia Public Policy Foundation.
• Grayson High School made "Adequate Yearly Progress" for the seventh year in a row.
• The Class of 2009 had 121 honor graduates, and Grayson seniors were offered 130 scholarships totaling $4,341,700.
• The Grayson Rams men's soccer team were region 8-AAA champions in 2003 and 2004. The men's varsity team was also co-state champions for AAA with the undefeated Richmond Academy.
• Grayson athletic teams earned a ranking of 11th in the state of Georgia for overall athletic excellence in the AAAAA division.
• The Rams wrestling team came in second in Area 8-5A Area Duals and qualified for the GHSA State Duals tournament.
• Four wrestlers with the Rams' wrestling team placed at the 2009 State Championships: Nick Isburgh (112) and Paul Ardila (189) both placed third in Georgia's highest classification, and "Jack" Dunster (140) and Zach George (145) both placed fifth.
• The Grayson football team finished the year with its first 8–AAAAA Regional Championship and played in the Elite Eight at the state level.
• The Baseball Rams once again participated in the state playoffs.
• Grayson's swim & dive team earned All-State Honorable Mention.
• A Grayson High School Student Council member was chosen as the Member of the Year by the Georgia Associations of Student Councils.
• The Mock Trial team finished as the runner-up in the Gwinnett Regional Competition in 2008 and 2009.
• The One-Act Play performance was named 8–AAAAA Region Runner-up.
• A number of Grayson students from the chorus and band performed with the District and All-State Honor groups.
• Two orchestra groups earned straight "superior" ratings at Large Group Performance Evaluations (LGPE).
• Chorus and band groups earned "excellent" and "superior" ratings at LGPE.
• The GHS Step Team won first place in the Gwinnett County Alumni Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta's "Step Up or Step Down" high school step show competition.
• On December 10, 2011 the Grayson Rams football team won their first ever state championship with a score of 24-0 against Walton High School for the 5A state title in the school's first appearance. The victory also marked head coach Mickey Conn's 100th win as the sole head coach for the Rams' entire history.
• The 2012 baseball team set a school record for wins with 27 and made it to the final four. Head Coach was Seth Rhine; Assistant Coaches were Jed Hixson, Bryan Tolbert, Rob Blair, Tim Maloney, and Jake Bova.
• In February 2013, the Grayson High School Student Council was elected as President School for the Georgia Association of Student Councils.
• In the Summer of 2014, Mickey Conn and his Rams took the National Select 7 on 7 Lassiter Qualifier, having to come up from the loser's bracket, and, playing back to back games, advance to the championship and defeat Valdosta (runner-up) twice, since it was double elimination. They then went to Hoover, Alabama, being the first team ever to ever come from the loser's bracket and to win it all.
• In 2015, Parker Davis won the 800m Region 8 6A Championship.

Notable alumni

• Eric Ati – professional goalkeeper for Atlanta Silverbacks
• Wayne Gallman - Running back for the New York Giants
• Jon Langston - Country music singer
• Austin Meadows - Major League baseball player for the Pittsburgh Pirates
• Denzel Nkemdiche - former Ole Miss football player
• Robert Nkemdiche - defensive end for the Arizona Cardinals

External links

• Grayson High School
• Grayson High Athletics