Virgil Grissom High School

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Virgil I. Grissom High School
Image:Grissom.JPG
Established	1969
Type	Public
Principal	Mr. B. T. Drake
Students	2000+ (2006-2007)
Grades	High school (9-12)
Location	Huntsville, AL USA
Accreditation	Southern Association of Secondary Schools
Colors	Orange, Brown, and White
Mascot	Tigers
Website	http://www.hsv.k12.al.us/schools/high/ghs/

Virgil I. Grissom High School is a public 9th through 12th grade high school in Huntsville, Alabama with approximately 2000 students. It is known academically as one of Alabama's finest public high schools. ^[1]

The high school's building is well-known for having no windows. This was changed, however, with the addition of a new science wing in 1997. This added about 5 windows to the school. The building still has no windows in the downstairs classrooms, to the dismay of some students. Grissom's building is divided into "pods", lettered A-H on the first floor and AA-HH on the second. The building itself follows a roughly octagonal format. Students jokingly refer to the school as "Grissom Penitentiary" because of the symmetric design. The presence of several armed police officers patrolling the halls is a prominent feature of the school and helps control violence. Student arrest rates are really not much higher than at other Huntsville high schools.

Grissom is also home to many productive sports teams. Though the school is predominantly white, African-Americans are well represented on the sports teams, i.e., football, basketball and track. Grissom is known in the Huntsville area for recruiting athletes from the mostly black side of town; the boosters have even helped out by paying rent for poor black families so their sons can play sports at Grissom. As of 2007, Grissom has football, boys/girls basketball, volleyball, baseball, cross country, track, golf, swim/dive, boys/girls soccer, boys/girls tennis, and cheerleading teams. The school also has numerous social, academic, and athletic organizations, or clubs.

Academically, the school has had much success. Grissom's math teams and academic team are among the best in the state of Alabama, and they have also earned national recognition. Recently, Grissom produced 28 National Merit Semifinalists for 2007, the highest number in the state. ^[2] Also, Grissom's 2006 Science Olympiad team placed 3rd overall in Alabama. ^[3] Their high asian and white demographic percentage helps Grissom maintain their academic excellence. Grissom's academic rigor results in relatively high SAT scores; their GPA average is similar to other schools in the area. The city has few schoolbusses; they were eliminated during the 'bussing' movement of the 1970s. Elimination of the busses helped prevent severe integration and continues through today. The city's school policy now states that students shall be provided transportation if they live beyond four miles from their assigned school. Of course, minority students may apply to attend the mostly white Grissom High if they can find their own transportation.

The school is named for astronaut Virgil "Gus" Grissom, and its mascot is affectionately called "Gus." Gus Grissom was nearly drowned during a space capsule retrieval in the Pacific Ocean when the hatches prematurely opened following explosive bolt actuation. He was killed in the Apollo 1 fire at Cape Kennedy on January 27, 1967. It is unfortunate that his death has been so controversal having followed his whistleblower type activities.