Penn Hills High School

Penn Hills High School is a public secondary school located in Penn Hills, east of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. It is the sole high school operated by the Penn Hills School District. In the 2018–19 school year, enrollment was reported as 1,186 pupils in 9th through 12th grades.^[3]

Penn Hills High School
Location
309 Collins Drive Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania , 15235 United States
Information
School district	Penn Hills School District
Principal	Eric Kostic[1][2]
Teaching staff	56.83 (FTE)[3]
Grades	9th through 12th
Enrollment	1,090 (2023–2024)[3]
Student to teacher ratio	19.18[3]
Color
Mascot	Indian
Feeder schools	Linton Middle School
Website	www.phsd.k12.pa.us/pennhillshighschool_home.aspx

Building

The new $58 million Penn Hills High School building was opened on January 3, 2013. The school was designed by Architectural Innovations. There are two gymnasiums, with the main one seating 1,900. The auditorium has about 1,000 seats with state-of-the-art lighting and sound-systems. All classrooms include Promethean World interactive whiteboards. The building features large skylights that can be seen from both the top and bottom floors to promote natural lighting. The school's new HVAC system was expected to save 30 percent in energy costs.^[4]

Because the enrollment was decreasing at the time, Benjamin Herod, the author of Disillusioned: Five Families and the Unraveling of America's Suburbs, criticized the decision to build the new school.^[5]

In 2012, the Pittsburgh Steelers funded a new $200,000 football field for the school.^[6]

Extracurriculars

The students have access to a wide variety of clubs, activities and an extensive sports program.^[7]

The Penn Hills Marching Band travels to football games and marches in a variety of parades throughout the year. Every year they return to Kennywood to perform, and take another trip out-of-state. Past band trips include Walt Disney World, Chicago, and Six Flags. The school also produces Gene Kelly Awards winning musicals^[8] and two plays per year.

Clubs at Penn Hills High School include the Library Assistants, Lab Assistants, Front Office Assistants, Athletic Office Assistants, Bible Club, Medical Careers Club, Key Club, Future Business Leaders of America, Yearbook Staff, PennPoints Newspaper Staff, French Club, Spanish Club, German Club, Games Club, National Honor Society, and Role Models. All freshmen students are matched with junior and senior Role Models to promote academic achievement, leadership, school spirit, and team-building skills. The school also sponsors teams for Calcusolve, Hometown High-Q, and Academic WorldQuest.

Sports

The teams are referred to as the Penn Hills Indians and Lady Indians, and the student cheering section is known as the Tribe.^[9] The district funds:

Varsity

Boys Baseball - 5A Basketball- 5A Cross Country - AAA Football - 5A Golf - AAA Soccer - AAA Swimming and Diving - AAA Track and Field - AAA Volleyball - AAA Wrestling - AAA

Girls Basketball - AAAA Cross Country - AAA Golf - AAA Soccer (Fall) - AAA Softball - AAAA Swimming and Diving - AAA Girls' Tennis - AAA Track and Field - AAA Volleyball - AAA

According to PIAA directory January 2016^[10]

Notable alumni

• Dante Cephas – college football player for the Penn State Nittany Lions^[11]
• Barry Church – professional football player in the National Football League (NFL)^[12]
• Aaron Donald – professional football player in the NFL and 3x Defensive Player of the Year^[13]
• Scott Edgar – college basketball coach
• Tom Flynn – professional football player in the NFL^[14]
• Bill Fralic – professional football player in the NFL^[15]
• Bill Fulton – professional baseball player^[16]
• Kevin Peter Hall – actor^[17]
• Daequan Hardy – college football player declaring for the 2024 NFL draft.^[18]
• Treyvon Hester – professional football player in the NFL^[19][20]
• George Karl – college basketball player; professional basketball player and head coach in the National Basketball Association (NBA)^[21]
• Abby Lee Miller – reality TV star^{[citation needed]}
• Anthony Morelli – professional football player in the NFL and Arena Football League; college football player at Penn State^[22]
• Guy Primus – businessman and entrepreneur^[23]
• Salima Rockwell – volleyball head coach for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish^[24]
• Jake Schifino – professional football player in the NFL^[25]
• Herb Sendek – college basketball head coach^[26]
• Tom Tumulty – professional football player in the NFL^[27]
• Damon Young – writer^[28]