GHHS History and Its Good
In 2023, everyone was moved to their new buildings.
We all know Grandview Heights High School is an amazing place, but what makes it so amazing? First, we will start with the history of Grandview Heights Schools. Back in 1895, or 131 years ago, the first Grandview school building was built. It was named the Harding School and was a small building that only contained two rooms. In 1898, two more rooms were added to the building which sandwiched the tall bell tower in between.
In 1911, the construction of an Elementary school started. When it was completed, the Harding School became the high School. This first class of seniors graduated in 1916, which was just five girls and two boys. In 1919, there were a total of 86 students in the High School and the first Grandview Heights High School year book was published in 1922. This number kept growing over years and eventually prompted the board to ask for a levy to fund a combination new high school and junior high school.
In 1924, a new high school was built. One of the rooms on the second floor was used as the Grandview Heights Public Library, and was eventually moved to where it is now, on First Ave. The school board wanted to make the campus larger, so they bought the property which is now used as the sports fields. In the 1930’s Grandview’s enrollment went down so WPA projects funded the money to maintain and renovate the new building, build tennis courts, and build a ticket/concession stand.
While many things still must be decided for this team including roster, name, logo, etc, there have been a couple staff hires including the HSG President of Global Soccer Tim Bezbatchenko, the President of Business Operations Mary Shepro, and most recently on October 16, the General Manager Lucy Rushton. For more insight on these roles and background on these people, check NWSL Columbus 2028’s website.
The school district wanted to count kindergarten as part of the public schools, and a building was built on the site of the old Harding building across Fairview from the Edison building. It officially opened in 1950, and was called the Kindergarten Annex. It was an award winning design since it was built on the location of the Harding building.
In 1924, a new high school was built.
In 1957, the middle and high school’s gyms were made. They were built to honor the boys who served in World War II. In the same year, Edison added on additional classrooms and property was purchased to build a playground for Edison. The property became the main parking lot of Edison as the playground was moved to the east side. Since a new gymnasium was also added to the high school, the old one became the auditorium.
In 1971, classrooms were added to Stevenson as well as a wing of classrooms were added to Larson. Support from the community and Bobcat Boosters led to the high school track being upgraded in 1993, and turned into one of the best all-weather tracks in the conference. A huge donation in 2007, from one of Grandview’s legacy families was used to outfit the stadium with an artificial grass field which was named Anderson Field in their honor.
In 2017, there was talk about completely tearing down the Edison building and replacing it with a brand new middle school, as well as renovating the high school building. The new middle school was built connecting to the high school, and the high schoolers were moved into that middle school as their high school was getting renovated.
In 2023, everyone was moved to their new buildings.The old middle school building was then demolished. In 2024, a bond issue passed that provides funding to replace the Stevenson building. It also included funds to upgrade the athletics facility. Upgrades include, new bleachers, restrooms, locker rooms, concessions, and upgrades to the track. Elementary students and staff attend school in modular classrooms for the 2026-2027 school year.
The 2026-2027 school year at Grandview Heights High School is going great so far. We asked students about their opinion on it.
To start, we interviewed Anna Black, a freshman. Anna is a student who has been at Grandview Heights Schools all her life. Anna loves the community in Grandview and she believes that is one of the most important things about it. Since Anna is a freshman this year, we asked her how her school year is going so far. She responded with, “I love the freedom in high school and that we get open lunch.” Lastly, something Anna would like to change or improve at our school is to have more time in between classes.
Next up is Emma Moyo, a freshman. Emma is another student that has always been at Grandview Heights Schools. Emma also loves the very close-knit community Grandview offers. Coming into high school this year Emma believes it was a very welcoming experience which has made her love it so far. Emma thinks this year has gone great so far, as the only thing she would like to change is the cafeteria hours, “I would like the lunch line to be open all day because I have study hall 8th period.”
Third is Murad Alshaikhi, a freshman. Murad is new to Grandview this year and it is his first year at Grandview schools. He loves the open lunch our school provides. Murad enjoys being on the soccer team this year. He has had a great time at GHHS so far and says there is nothing he would change about it.
Lastly, Vivienne Bigler, a freshman. Vivienne has been in Grandview Schools since 1st grade. She loves having open-lunch and thought high school was a welcoming experience and likes it more than Middle School. Vivienne said,”I wish we had more fun elective choices,” as the only thing she would like to change about our school.
Overall, Grandview Heights High School has had many changes over the years. Starting from the Harding School, to our new building today. Over many years, and many renovations, Grandview Heights High School has shaped into itself today. After interviewing multiple students, we can conclude that Grandview is a very welcoming and close community. Students value having an open-lunch as it is not offered at any other school near us. With our interviews we also proved that Grandview Heights High School is a very good place to experience high School.