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 2025–26 school year, enrollment was reported as 1,049 students in 9th through 12th grades.
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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.
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.
In 2012, the Pittsburgh Steelers 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 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 and two plays per year. The school also has a after school program called "Safe Spaces," giving students the opportunity to have a relaxed and secure place to go to after school.
Sports
The teams are referred to as just Penn Hills no longer going by their previous name "Indians", and the student cheering section is known as the Tribe. The Steelers recently supported and funded the school for new turf at the Yuhas McGinley Stadium.
The district funds:
Varsity
According to PIAA directory January 2016
Notable alumni
Dante Cephas – college football player for the Kansas State Wildcats
Barry Church – professional football player in the National Football League (NFL)
Aaron Donald – retired professional football player in the NFL and 3x Defensive Player of the Year
Jaden Dugger – professional football player in the NFL
Scott Edgar – college basketball coach
Tom Flynn – professional football player in the NFL
Bill Fralic – professional football player in the NFL
Bill Fulton – professional baseball player
Kevin Peter Hall – actor
Daequan Hardy – college football player declaring for the 2024 NFL draft.
Treyvon Hester – professional football player in the NFL
George Karl – college basketball player; professional basketball player and head coach in the National Basketball Association (NBA)
Abby Lee Miller – reality TV star
Anthony Morelli – professional football player in the NFL and Arena Football League; college football player at Penn State
Guy Primus – businessman and entrepreneur
Salima Rockwell – volleyball head coach for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish
District
Penn Hills School District entered Pennsylvania's state-mandated Financial Recovery program in 2019 after several years of overspending and a rapidly increasing debt load. After implementing a multi-year recovery plan focused on stabilizing its fund balance, reducing long-term debt, and improving financial oversight, the district made significant progress. On May 23, 2024, the Pennsylvania Department of Education officially announced that Penn Hills had exited Financial Recovery status, noting improvements such as a strengthened fund balance, reduced reliance on short-term borrowing, and more sustainable budgeting practices. The district will continue under a five-year monitoring period to ensure ongoing financial stability.[1]