Skip to main content
VaHome.com
Home›Portsmouth›I.C. Norcom High School

Portsmouth City Public Schools · High School · Grades 9-12

I.C. Norcom High School

1801 London Boulevard, Portsmouth, VA 23704 · Home of the Greyhounds

✓ Fully Accredited · 2025-2026
2/10
Well below average
GreatSchools

Profile data: NCES & Virginia DOE (sources cited below). Rating: GreatSchools.org, April 2026. School boundaries can change — verify zoning with the district before relying on it.

At a glance

School district
Portsmouth City Public Schools
Grades served
9-12
School type
Regular public high school (not charter)
Principal
Teesha Sanders
Established
1878 · this campus 1997
Mascot & colors
Greyhounds · Maroon, Grey
Enrollment
1,009 students (2024-2025)
Student–teacher ratio
13:1
Classroom teachers
75 FTE
Accreditation
Fully Accredited (2025-2026)
NCES school ID
510300001250

Academic performance

SOL pass rates · 2024-2025
Reading
78%
Mathematics
71%
Science
68%
History & Social Sci.
35%
85%
On-time graduation (Class of 2024)
10%
Dropout rate

College & career readiness

2024-2025
1.68%
Students in AP courses
5.45%
Dual-enrollment (college credit)

Class of 2025 cohort had 85 students earn advanced diplomas (raw count, not a percent).

Attendance

2024-2025

25% of students were chronically absent (missed 10%+ of school days).

About I.C. Norcom High School

I. C. Norcom High School traces its origins to 1878, when it opened as the Chestnut Street School for Black elementary and high school students in Portsmouth, Virginia. It was renamed the High Street School in 1913 and later named in honor of Israel Charles Norcom (1856-1916), an African American educator who served as its first supervising principal. It is often cited as one of the nation's oldest continuously operating historically Black high schools.

The school is administered by Portsmouth City Public Schools and sits at 1801 London Boulevard in Portsmouth, a city in the Hampton Roads region of southeastern Virginia. The current building opened in September 1997, and its first four-year graduating class completed in 2002. The school's teams are the Greyhounds, competing in the Virginia High School League, with school colors of maroon and grey.

Notable alumni

Ruth Brown· R&B singer, 'Queen of R&B' (class of 1945)E. J. Josey· African American librarian and activist (class of 1940)James W. Holley III· Former mayor of Portsmouth, Virginia (class of 1944)Dorian Finney-Smith· NBA basketball playerVernon Macklin· NBA basketball playerMelvin Gregg· Actor

Contact

Phone
(757) 393-5442
Official school website ↗

Data sources

  • NCES Common Core of Data - I.C. Norcom High — NCES ID (510300001250), state ID, enrollment (1,009), grades 9-12, 75.0 FTE teachers, student/teacher ratio 13.45, locale, charter status, phone, address2024-2025 link ↗
  • Virginia School Quality Profiles - I.C. Norcom High — Accreditation status, SOL pass rates, graduation/dropout rates, chronic absenteeism, AP/dual enrollment, demographics, principal2024-2025 / accreditation 2025-2026 link ↗
  • Wikipedia - I. C. Norcom High School — Founding history, mascot, colors, current building year, athletics championships, notable alumni, websiten/a link ↗
  • Wikimedia Commons - File:Norcom High.jpg — Freely-licensed (CC BY-SA 4.0) building photo2007 link ↗

Figures reflect the 2024-2025 (Virginia School Quality Profiles and NCES); accreditation 2025-2026 unless noted. School zoning, boundaries, and ratings change — verify with the school division before making housing decisions.

See all homes zoned to I.C. Norcom High School→

Be first to new homes near I.C. Norcom High School

Get new Portsmouth listings emailed as they hit the REIN MLS — free, unsubscribe anytime.

Free new-listing alerts from the VaHome Team. No spam — unsubscribe anytime.

Other schools in Portsmouth