Grant High School (Portland, Oregon)

Ulysses S. Grant High School (commonly Grant High School) is a public high school in the Grant Park neighborhood of Portland, Oregon, United States. Grant serves inner and central Northeast Portland and southeastern North Portland. It is the second largest high school in the Portland Public School District.

History
Ulysses S. Grant High School opened in September 1924, with 1,191 students. Many of the schools in the Portland Public School district that were built between 1908 and 1932 were designed by architects Floyd Naramore and George Jones. During the early 1920s, so many schools were being built simultaneously in Portland, the district had to hire another architectural firm to design Grant High School, which is in the Classical Revival style by architects Knighton and Howell. In November 1923, the bricklayers working on Grant went on strike after the district tried to cut costs by using a maintenance worker to lay bricks.

After the Vanport flood in May 1948, Grant was home to the Vanport Extension Center (now Portland State University) through the summer of that year. Three motion pictures have been filmed at Grant High School: The made-for-TV movie Reunion (1980), Mr. Holland's Opus (1995), and Nearing Grace (2005).

Funded by a $482 million bond measure approved in 2012, A two-year modernization and expansion project of Grant High School began in June 2017 and was completed in the summer of 2019. The entire interior of the building was gutted and has been completely rebuilt. The project includes a new two-story common area, a new gymnasium, seismic retrofitting, and additional classroom space.



Student profile
In the 2016–2017 school year, Grant's student population was 67.8% white, 8.2% African American, 6.8% Hispanic, 4.7% Asian, 0.6% Native American, 0.2% Pacific Islander, and 11.7% mixed race. About 25% of Grant's students live out of boundaries and transfer in.

In 2008, 92% of the school's seniors received a high school diploma. Of 443 students, 388 graduated, 39 dropped out, six received a modified diploma, and ten were still in high school in 2009. In 2009, 27% of the students were transfers into the school.

Special programs
Grant High School houses the last installment of the Japanese Immersion Program, a 13-year immersion program, begun at Richmond Elementary and continued at Mt. Tabor Middle School.

Extracurricular activities
Grant's Constitution Team has been the state champion thirteen times (2002, 2004–2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2022), and has won the national competition four times (2013, 2015, 2018, 2024).

In 2011, Grant's student newspaper, The Grantonian, was replaced by the 36-page full-color monthly Grant Magazine. In its first year, the magazine won Best In Show at the Oregon Fall Press day. It has also won the Columbia University Scholastic Press Association's Gold Crown award three years in a row, from 2014 through 2016.

Athletics
GHS's mascot is the Grant General, in honor of its namesake General and 18th US President, Ulysses S. Grant.

State championships

 * Men's football: 1943, 1945, 1946, 1949, 1950, 1963 (tie with North Salem)
 * Men's gymnastics: 1982
 * Men's baseball: 1958
 * Men's basketball: 1969, 1986, 1988, 2008, 2018
 * Men's soccer team: 2008
 * Men's tennis: 2005
 * Men's swimming: 2010
 * Men's cross country: 1957, 1958, 1963, 1964
 * Women’s soccer: 2021, 2023
 * Men's track and field: 1930, 1931, 1939, 1961, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1970, 1988
 * Women's cross country: 1974, 2012
 * Jazz band: 2022

Notable alumni

 * Kenneth Acker, pro football player
 * Gert Boyle, president and CEO of Columbia Sportswear
 * Terrell Brandon, former NBA player
 * Matt Braunger, comedian, MADtv, IKEA Heights
 * Beverly Cleary, children's author, National Book Award and Newbery Medal recipient
 * Charles Crookham, former Oregon Attorney General
 * Ian Doescher, author of the William Shakespeare's Star Wars series
 * Linda Douglas, actress and model
 * C. Gordon Fullerton, astronaut
 * Tom Grant, musician
 * Donald P. Hodel, former United States Secretary of the Interior and United States Secretary of Energy, former president of Focus on the Family
 * Mike James, professional basketball player
 * June Jones, NFL player, college and pro football head coach
 * Thomas Lauderdale, pianist of band Pink Martini
 * Lorry I. Lokey, founder of Business Wire, philanthropist
 * Riley Mattson, former NFL offensive tackle
 * Connie McCready, former mayor of Portland
 * Jinkx Monsoon, actor and drag queen
 * Mike Moser, basketball player
 * Darryl Motley, MLB Kansas City Royals outfielder
 * Janee Munroe, violist
 * Bob Packwood, lawyer, former U.S. Senator
 * Mark Radford, former NBA player
 * Harry Wayland Randall, former member of International Brigades that fought in Spanish Civil War
 * George Shaw, NFL quarterback
 * Al Siebert, author and educator
 * Jefferson Smith, founder of Bus Project, former member of Oregon House of Representatives
 * Sally Struthers, film and Emmy Award-winning actress of All in the Family
 * Ndamukong Suh, NFL player, Miami Dolphins, Detroit Lions, Los Angeles Rams
 * Robina Suwol, children's health advocate
 * Caroline Walker, set world record in marathon while attending GHS
 * Dominic Waters (born 1986), basketball player in the Israel Basketball Premier League
 * Edward Curtis Wells, businessman
 * Dan Wieden, CEO of Wieden+Kennedy