Penn Hills High School is a public secondary school located in

Penn Hills Penn Hills is a township with home rule status in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 41,059 as of the 2020 census. Penn Hills is the second-largest municipality in Allegheny County, after Pittsburgh. History In 178 ...

, east of

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, 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.

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 Promethean World Ltd is a global education technologies company that develops, integrates and implements learning environments. Promethean is held by NetDragon Websoft, a Chinese video game company, who acquired Promethean in 2015. The company's g ...

interactive whiteboards An interactive whiteboard (IWB), also known as interactive board or smart board, is a large interactive display board in the form factor of a whiteboard. It can either be a standalone touchscreen computer used independently to perform task ...

. The building features large

skylights A skylight (sometimes called a rooflight) is a light-permitting structure or window, usually made of transparent or translucent glass, that forms all or part of the roof space of a building for daylighting and ventilation purposes. History Open ...

that can be seen from both the top and bottom floors to promote

natural lighting Daylighting is the practice of placing windows, skylights, other openings, and reflective surfaces so that sunlight (direct or indirect) can provide effective internal lighting. Particular attention is given to daylighting while designing a bui ...

. The school's new HVAC system was expected to save 30 percent in energy costs. In 2012, the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

funded a new $200,000 football field for the school.

Extracurriculars

The students have access to a wide variety of clubs, activities and an extensive sports program. 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 Kennywood is an amusement park located in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania, just southeast of Pittsburgh. The park opened on May 30, 1899, as a trolley park attraction at the end of the Mellon family's Monongahela Street Railway. It was purchased in 1 ...

to perform, and take another trip out-of-state. Past band trips include

Walt Disney World The Walt Disney World Resort, also called Walt Disney World or Disney World, is an entertainment resort complex in Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista, Florida, United States, near the cities of Orlando and Kissimmee. Opened on October 1, 1971, th ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, and

Six Flags Six Flags Entertainment Corporation is an American amusement park corporation, headquartered in Arlington, Texas. It has properties in Canada, Mexico, and the United States. Six Flags owns the most theme parks and waterparks combined of any amu ...

. The school also produces

Gene Kelly Awards The Gene Kelly Awards for Excellence in High School Musical Theater, named after the actor/director Gene Kelly, are given out yearly by the Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera and the University of Pittsburgh. The award was founded in 1991 and celebrate ...

winning musicals 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 Key Club International, also called Key Club, is an international service organization for high school students. As a student-led organization, Key Club's goal is to encourage leadership through serving others. Key Club International is the hig ...

, Future Business Leaders of America,

Yearbook A yearbook, also known as an annual, is a type of a book published annually. One use is to record, highlight, and commemorate the past year of a school. The term also refers to a book of statistics or facts published annually. A yearbook often ...

Staff, ''PennPoints'' Newspaper Staff, French Club, Spanish Club, German Club, Games Club,

National Honor Society The National Honor Society (NHS) is a nationwide organization for high school students in the United States and outlying territories, which consists of many chapters in high schools. Selection is based on four criteria: scholarship (academic achi ...

, 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 ''It's Academic'' is the name for a number of televised academic student quiz shows for high school students through the United States and internationally. ''It's Academic'' programs have notably aired on NBC-owned WMAQ-TV Chicago, WRC-TV (a ...

, and

Academic WorldQuest The World Affairs Councils of America is a network of 93 autonomous and nonpartisan councils across 40 states. History The World Affairs Councils of America was founded in 1918. It is the largest nonprofit international affairs organization in ...

Sports

The teams are referred to as the Penn Hills Indians and Lady Indians, and the student cheering section is known as the Tribe. The district funds: ;Varsity: ;Boys: *

Baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

- 5A *

Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

- 5A * Cross Country - AAA *

Football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

- 5A *

Golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

- AAA *

Soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

- AAAA *

Swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

and

Diving Diving most often refers to: * Diving (sport), the sport of jumping into deep water * Underwater diving, human activity underwater for recreational or occupational purposes Diving or Dive may also refer to: Sports * Dive (American football), a ...

- AAA *

Track and Field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

- AAA *

Volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

- AAA *

Wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

- AAA ;Girls: *Basketball - AAAA *Cross Country - AAA *Golf - AAA *Soccer (Fall) - AAA *

Softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

- AAAA *Swimming and Diving - AAA *Girls' Tennis - AAA *Track and Field - AAA *

- AAA According to PIAA directory January 2016

Notable alumni

Barry Church Barry Michael Church (born February 11, 1988) is a former American football strong safety. He played college football at the University of Toledo and signed with the Dallas Cowboys as an undrafted free agent in 2010. Church has also played for ...

– professional football player in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL) *

Aaron Donald Aaron Charles Donald (born May 23, 1991) is an American football defensive tackle for the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Pittsburgh, where he received unanimous All-American honors, and ...

– professional football player in the NFL and 3x Defensive Player of the Year * Scott Edgar –

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

coach * Tom Flynn – professional football player in the NFL *

Bill Fralic William P. Fralic Jr. ( ) (October 31, 1962 – December 13, 2018) was an American professional football player who was a guard for the Atlanta Falcons and Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL) from 1985 to 1993. He played colle ...

– professional football player in the NFL * Bill Fulton – professional baseball player *

Kevin Peter Hall Kevin Peter Hall (May 9, 1955 – April 10, 1991) was an American actor. Hall stood tall, and frequently played monster characters during his career. He was the original title character in the science fiction ''Predator'' franchise, appearing ...

– actor * Treyvon Hester – professional football player in the NFL *

George Karl George Matthew Karl (born May 12, 1951) is an American former professional basketball coach and player. After spending five years as a player for the San Antonio Spurs, Karl became an assistant with the team before getting the chance to become a ...

– college basketball player; professional basketball player and head coach in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

(NBA) *

Abby Lee Miller Abigale Lee Miller (born September 21, 1965) is an American television personality who founded the Abby Lee Dance Company, which appeared on the reality television series ''Dance Moms'' for eight seasons. On June 27, 2016, Miller pleaded guilty ...

– reality TV star *

Anthony Morelli Anthony Michael Morelli (born June 21, 1985) is a former American football quarterback. He was signed by the Arizona Cardinals as an undrafted free agent in 2008. He played college football at Penn State. Morelli was a member of the San Jose Sabe ...

– professional football player in the NFL and

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

;

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

player at

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campu ...

Guy Primus Guy Primus (born July 1969), is an American entrepreneur and inventor. He is chief executive officer of Valence Enterprises, and is a member of the Board of Trustees of Southern California Public Radio. He is also the chairman emeritus of the Sch ...

– businessman and entrepreneur * Jake Schifino – professional football player in the NFL *

Herb Sendek Herbert Joseph Sendek Jr. (born February 22, 1963) is an American college basketball coach who is the current men's basketball head coach at Santa Clara. Early life Herbert Joseph Sendek, Jr. of Slovak descent, grew up in Pittsburgh and attended ...

– college basketball head coach * Tom Tumulty – professional football player in the NFL *

Damon Young Damon Young (born 1975 in Melbourne, Victoria) is an Australian philosopher, writer and commentator, and author of the books ''Distraction'', ''Philosophy in the Garden'' and ''How to Think About Exercise''. He is an Honorary Fellow in Philo ...

– writer

References

External links

Penn Hills School District official website
{{authority control Public high schools in Pennsylvania Education in Pittsburgh area