Until this time, local students mostly attended Mortimer Jordan High School in nearby Morris.

A merger was proposed in 2007 between GHS and nearby Fultondale High School, but it was cancelled by Superintendent Phil Hammonds.

[2] 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 high school basketball teams began playing their home games in the new gymnasium in the fall of 2010.

Driver, the man who was responsible for the stadium lighting (a former Alabama Power employee) who later became the city's parks director.

The boys' cross-country team has won the state Class 3A championship five times, including four consecutive years from 1976 through 1979, and again in 1982.

Keith Clay, a track athlete in the late 70's, holds the GHS record for the most individual state championships in any sport with a total of 8.