Denby was forced to resign his position and narrowly avoided criminal indictment for his role in what came to be known as the Teapot Dome scandal.

The first unit of the school, containing 19 classrooms, two study halls, and an office, opened in 1930 with about 1000 students and 38 teachers.

Rochelle Riley of the Detroit Free Press wrote that by 2010 Denby was "known more for its academic decline than" for the said mathematics department.

[7] In 2016, Wilbourn-Snapp pleaded guilty to felony charges of bribery conspiracy and tax evasion for her role in a kickback scheme during her time at Denby.

[9] The same year, Denby was transferred from Detroit Public School System (DPS) to the Education Achievement Authority (EAA).

The middle section of the facade is sheathed in concrete, and each half of the building features a concrete-sheathed entrance and a projecting wing.

Art Deco stylistic elements are applied to the facade of the building; these include terra cotta panels with ship and lamp reliefs, designed and made by sculptor Corrado Parducci.

The center of the facade is arranged into seven vertical sections, with the central bays projecting slightly farther than outer ones.

In addition to the Parducci tiles, other decorative elements include arches at the top of the stairwell windows, a small roof parapet, and checkerboard brick patterns in the middle section of the building.