Every summer, around 100 new students enroll at PLHS, not counting freshmen. The surplus of new students creates necessary, and sometimes complicated, changes around the school. Incoming students must be enrolled in classes which means current students may draw the short straw and have overcrowded classes.  

Dr. Angela O’Hanlon, one of the school’s principals and the master schedule coordinator, does her best to make sure every student gets a class they will enjoy. Complications occur when students come in with a change mind the first day which in turn causes scheduling problems for other students who are confident in their choices.  

“The biggest thing you could do is in the spring when you go to schedule and pick your classes, be very confident in the ones you choose,” head principal Jerry Kalina said. “Otherwise if you’re changing your schedule all the time it creates a mess on the back end.”  

Due to a surplus of students, the school is forced to find solutions that please everyone involved. The easiest solution is to have students request a locker if they need one. The school tries not to put an entire grade next to each other for different reasons. 

“We try to stagger and move the kids around a bit more knowing that this year grades 10 through 12 did not need to have a locker,” Kalina said. “So, putting the freshmen in one large area we thought it wasn’t the best.”  

The walk from the lockers to class is visually dull because there is nothing on the walls to peak students’ interest. Kalina’s goal with the new signs above the fine arts and athletic wings was to give the walls a bit more “flavor”, even though this creates problems every seven years when the district repaints the school walls. Kalina disregards this issue and would instead “love for students to create artwork for the building”. 

Kalina prides himself in improving and doing what he can to improve the school and the environment students are put in every day. One way he does this is by giving students downtime during school, which is why he added five minutes to the lunches and decreased class time to 55 minutes.  

“Most of the elementary schools [and] most of the middle schools [are] getting kids through in 15-20 minutes, which is probably not healthy,” Kalina said. 

As high schoolers, students experience different causes of stress and sometimes lunch is their only downtime for the eight hours they’re in the building. Some students don’t take a study hall or an early or late release, so their entire day is filled going from lecture to lecture.  

“Our kids have a lot of downtime compared to other schools in the district which I think is a good thing,” Kalina said.  

The cafeteria has greater plans than just an extra five minutes for students. Kalina ordered 10 more tables with the seats attached because extra chairs cause unnecessary hazards in the lunchroom. In the end, the cafeteria will have no detached chairs and more seating for students to socialize. 

The final touches of PLHS will begin in the spring of 2020 when the bond renovations are put into motion. The three-year project will add extra classrooms in the freshmen wing for 9th graders to be better introduced to the high school environment. They will be able to see out into the school without being disrupted in their classes to provide a better learning environment. 

“Always our first thought is what’s best for the kids,” Kalina said.