 The school was established in 1921 (making it the oldest, still functioning high school in the city of Syracuse) in the building that is now T. Aaron Levy Middle School.It was named for the prominent Syracuse attorney William Nottingham (1853–1921), who had served on the Syracuse University Board of Trustees and on the New York State Board of Regents.In 1952 the high school moved to its current location on East Genesee Street.