Pottsville High School - Hi S Potts Yearbook (Pottsville, PA)

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Further, the Annual report stated: A four-year course would mean much for the high school, much in the way of scholar- ship and in preparation for college or for immediate entrance to the business world. This enlargement of the curriculum would necessitate more room and more teachers, but surely Pottsville can afford this with its boasted wealth and the love for educa- tion. Under existing conditions we are hampered by the lack of time for such studies as rhetoric, chemistry and astronomy- three of the most difiicult and important studies in the curriculum. The Class of 1912 was the first to graduate under the four-year curriculum-there being no 1911 class--but the new educa- tional venture brought with it new problems for the school board. When school resumed in the fall of 1914 there was not sufficient room to accommodate the pupils. Within a period of six years the enrollment had increased from 100 to 300 and fully 100 more were listed for the 1914-'15 term. A number of plans were considered by the school board, among them a suggestion that a new building be erected at Nine- teenth and Market Streets, or that the Garfield building, then the site of the high school, be enlarged by the addition of another story. The most practical idea, however, seemed to be the one proposed for enlarging the Patterson building at Twelfth Street to accommodate the high school pupils. Architect F. X. Reilly drew up plans to enlarge the Patterson building: Contractor Wertley was awarded the contract for 344,250 and on September 29, 1916, the new school opened with an enrollment of 500 pupils. With the outbreak of World War I popular public opinion forced the school authorities to substitute Spanish for German in the language department and the inauguration of a reserve officers training corps. An R. O. T. C. auxiliary was also formed, with every girl in the school enrolled in the unit. The training course was discontinued in 1921 and the question of new quarters for the high school again came to the attention of the school board and public. The electorate defeated the initial plan for a new building by a 3534-1804 vote at a special election on November 5, 1924. In December, 1930, the public voted 2449 to 1521 in favor of a i1S900,000 loan to build the present school on the site then known as Fisher's Farm. The school was ready for occupancy in Ianuary, 1933. The building in its design is an adaptation of Italian-Gothic brick work. Its beauty is enhanced by the large irregular and commanding site on which it stands, and by the variety of exterior design that refiects the manifold activities of a modern school plant. Because of the different grade levels the structure evolves gradually from a three-story building on the west to a five-story plant on the east. It is so uniquely planned, however, that the two gymnasiums on the west, the general offices at the central or main entrances, the auditorium on the east, and the cafeteria underneath, all have ground floor entrances. The cafeteria, operated on a self-supporting basis and without profit, can accommodate the entire student population at lunch time on a two-shift basis. The auditorium, with a seating capacity of 1499, is fronted by a large stage with two well- appointed dressing and costume rooms and also a moving picture booth in the balcony. The acoustical properties of the room are well nigh perfect and it has been the setting for presentations of some of the world's best known musical organizations of the last decade, in addition to a variety of local group presentations and programs that regularly form a part of school life and activities. For small group uses there is a little theatre with a seating capacity of 144. TWELFTH STREET BUILDING - PATTERSON BUILDING l -10-

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iw 'vi Y0Ki00iN 0iN9C4E00 00iXKi0O6ib0Ki0Ki0K300iE00 0K?00iCEO0 00 00W Q Q Q EDDIE SCHLITZER Q Q 'FOR THE PARTICULAR MAN Q Q LENTRE AND NORXVEGIAN STREETS Q Q PHONE 986 POTTSVILLE, PA Q Q Q g FOR OVER THREE-QUARTERS OF A CENTURY! Q Q HEADQUARTERS FOR Q AMERICANS FINEST FURNITURE Q if Q 5? Q H U M M I: L ' s Q Q Good Furniture Since 1874 Q 2 POTTSVILLE g 3 You Mar1'y the Girl . . . We,ll Furnrish the Home. ' Q Q Q Q Q Compliments of Q Q F. and W. GRAND sToRE 2 .Q b r Q Q jL094E00 0 0 0 F 5 3 ol .-.11-f