Pittsfield High School is a four year comprehensive public high school in

Pittsfield, Massachusetts Pittsfield is the largest city and the county seat of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the principal city of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Berkshire County. Pittsfield� ...

, United States. It serves the city of Pittsfield. The school dates its founding to 1844. It is administered by the Pittsfield Public Schools district and is the oldest of the district's two high schools. Enrollment for the 2014-2015 school year included 916 students. 51% of the student population was female and 49% were male. Students of African American, Asian, Hispanic, Native American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander and Multi-Race, Non-Hispanic ethnicity and heritage comprised 21.8% percent of the student population.

History

Pittsfield High School (PHS) traces its founding to 1844 when a town meeting voted to establish the community's first high school. Six years later in November 1850, PHS opened in a three-room wooden building on a site occupied by the current city hall. Several sites and buildings later, the current facility opened on September 9, 1931.

Academics

Graduation requirements include: 1) earning 244 credits, 2) completing one of four certificate programs (Arts and Sciences, Business and Management Studies, Career/Technical Education or Work Based Learning) and 3) passing the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) exam. The school's academic departments include Business, English, Fine and Performing Arts, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, Special Education, Career Technical and World Languages.

Student life

Activities

PHS extracurricular activities include AfterSchool Social Club, Art Club, Band, Best Buddies, Cheerleading, Class Council, Computer Club, Mock Trial, Drama Club, Engineering Club, French Club, Italian Club, Latin Club, Literary Magazine, Orchestra, ''The Dome'' yearbook, ''Generally Speaking'' student newspaper, Gay Straight Alliance, Morningside/PHS Community Service Learning and Tutoring Project, National Honor Society, New England Math League, PHS/Williams Community Service Learning Project, PeaceJam, Pep Club, Photography Club, Quiz Team, SADD, Horticulture, Silk Screening Club, Spanish Club and Student Government.

Athletics

PHS fields varsity boys and girls athletic teams. The school is a member of the Berkshire County Conference athletic league. Member schools include

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in North Adams,

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in Cheshire, Lee High School in Lee, Lenox Memorial High School in Lenox, Monument Mountain Regional High School in Great Barrington, Mt. Everett Regional High School in Sheffield, Mt. Greylock Regional High School in Williamstown, St. Joseph Central High School (Catholic) in Pittsfield,

Taconic High School Taconic Vocational High School is a vocational high school in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, United States. Taconic was built in 1968 and opened in 1969, which serves as a high school of choice for students in Pittsfield. The school's primary focus ...

in Pittsfield and Wahconah Regional High School in Dalton. Each season both boys and girls PHS athletic teams play a few games against teams outside the league.

Notable alumni

Elizabeth Banks Elizabeth Banks (born Elizabeth Irene Mitchell; February 10, 1974) is an American actress and filmmaker. She is known for playing Effie Trinket in ''The Hunger Games'' film series (2012–2015) and Gail Abernathy-McKadden in the ''Pitch Perfe ...

, actress *

Mark Belanger Mark Henry Belanger (June 8, 1944 – October 6, 1998), nicknamed "The Blade," was an American professional baseball player and coach. He played 18 seasons in Major League Baseball as a shortstop from through , most notably as a member of the Bal ...

, professional baseball player *

Kim Cobb Kim M. Cobb (born 1974) is an American climate scientist. She is Professor of Environment and Society and Professor of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences at Brown University, where she directs the Institute at Brown for Environment and ...

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, professional baseball player *

Elaine Giftos Elaine Giftos (born 1942/1943) is a retired American model, actress, and dancer. The daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Charles P. Giftos, she attended Pittsfield High School. While working as a fashion model in New York, Giftos was selected by the ...

, dancer and actress *

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Rick Lisi Riccardo Patrick Emilio Lisi (born March 17, 1956 in Halifax, Nova Scotia) is a former Major League Baseball outfielder. He was drafted by the Texas Rangers in the 13th round of the 1974 amateur draft, and played for the Rangers in 1981. The 25 ...

, professional baseball player *

Robert Prentiss Robert G. Prentiss (March 23, 1936 – March 18, 2022) was an American politician. Prentiss was born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and graduated from Pittsfield High School. He then served in the United States Marines Corps during the Korean ...

, Massachusetts and New York politician *

Joseph Scelsi Joseph Salvatore Scelsi (June 4, 1915 – April 1, 2002) was an American politician. Born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, Scelsi graduated from Pittsfield High School in 1934. He worked as the foreman for the Railway Express Agency for thirty-s ...

, Massachusetts state legislator *

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, co-founder, co-chairman, and

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

Wayfair Wayfair Inc. is an American e-commerce company based in Boston, Massachusetts that sells furniture and home goods online. Formerly known as CSN Stores, it was founded in 2002, and currently offers 14 million items from more than 11,000 global s ...

Howie Storie Howard Edward Storie (May 15, 1911 – July 27, 1968) was a professional baseball catcher. He was a reserve player for the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB) in 1931 and 1932. Listed at and , he batted and threw right-handed. Biograph ...

, professional baseball player * Matt Torra, professional baseball player * Earl Turner, professional baseball player *

Charles White Whittlesey Charles White Whittlesey (January 20, 1884 – November 26, 1921) was a United States Army Medal of Honor recipient who led the Lost Battalion in the Meuse–Argonne offensive during World War I. He committed suicide by drowning when he jumped ...

MoH Moh (Punjabi: ਮੋਹ ''mōha''; Sanskrit: ''muh'': is a word in Punjabi and Sanskrit. Definition “to become stupefied, to be bewildered or perplexed, to err, to be mistaken”. It stands in ancient texts for perplexity or confusion and ...

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in the

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References

External links

Pittsfield Public SchoolsiBerkshires.com - High School Sports
{{Coord, 42, 26, 49.10, N, 73, 14, 53.62, W, display=title Public high schools in Massachusetts Schools in Berkshire County, Massachusetts Buildings and structures in Pittsfield, Massachusetts