Gardendale High School
| Gardendale High School | |
|---|---|
| Address | |
|
800 Main Street Gardendale, Alabama United States |
|
| Information | |
| Type | Public |
| Established | 1966 |
| School district | Jefferson County Board of Education |
| Principal | Mary Beth Blankenship |
| Faculty | 58 |
| Grades | 9-12 |
| Enrollment | 1,450 |
| Student to teacher ratio | 19:1 |
| Campus | Suburban |
| Color(s) | Maroon and gray |
| Athletics | AHSAA Class 6A |
| Nickname | Rockets |
| Feeder schools | Bragg Middle School |
| Website | gardendalehigh |
Gardendale High School (GHS) is a public high school located in the Birmingham, Alabama suburb of Gardendale. It is currently operated by the Jefferson County Board of Education. GHS was established in 1966 as a result of population growth in the area. Until this time, local students mostly attended Mortimer Jordan High School in nearby Morris.
The school mascot/nickname is "Rockets." The name was chosen by vote of the first student body in school history and was chosen to honor the U.S. Space and Rocket program, which at the time was actively pursuing the goal of placing a man on the moon. The school colors are maroon and gray.
A merger was proposed in 2007 between GHS and nearby Fultondale High School, but it was cancelled by Superintendent Phil Hammonds. In the aftermath of the scuttled merger, the district announced plans for construction of a new $46 million school building that would include separate competition and practice gyms, a 600-seat auditorium and 100-seat lecture hall, with potential future expansion to add as many as 32 additional classrooms down the road. The expansion would allow the school's 960 student enrollment to be expanded to accommodate 1,457 students. Demolition of the old school was completed in 2009.
The new high school officially opened in February 2010. Once all students had transferred to the new high school campus the Rogers campus was demolished. A new baseball stadium as well as a soccer field were built on the site of the former Rogers campus. The high school basketball teams began playing their home games in the new gymnasium in the fall of 2010.
The school's football stadium was originally called Rocket Stadium but the name was changed to Driver Stadium later to honor L.E. Driver, the man who was responsible for the stadium lighting (a former Alabama Power employee) who later became the city's parks director. During the 1970s, it was the largest capacity on-campus high school stadium in Jefferson County and second largest overall; Legion Field in Birmingham, home field of several city schools, was the largest. The stadium hosted several Dental Clinic Charity football games as well as one Crippled Children's Classic charity football game during the 1970s.
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