Then he continued, "A high school proper can be established without any other additional expense than the salary of a female teacher.

"[6] Graduation from high school during the first eight years of its operation carried with it no tangible evidence of the fact for the boys and girls who had completed the course.

[7] After the American Civil War, a committee comprising Peter W. Sheafer, William B. W ells, Christopher Little, John W .

Roseberry, and David A. Smith accomplished the reorganization of the high school and it was again placed on a firm basis.

The then prevailing three-year course offered the following subjects: First (Junior Year) ~ History, algebra, geometry, foundation of Latin, Caesar, elocution; Second (Middle Year) ~ Geometry, physiology, literature, botany, composition, Cicero, Latin prose, Caesar, elocution, physical geography; Third (Senior Year ) ~ Physics, Cicero, Virgil, rhetoric, civics, astronomy, trigonometry, chemistry, geology, elocution.

Shortly before the reorganization of the school, its location was moved to the old Academy building at Fifth and West Norwegian Streets.

During this period of rapid growth the high school was directed by Stephen A. Thurlow, another outstanding figure in local educational circles.

The 1908 issue of the Annual related: "For some years a four-year course has been agitated for the high school, but up to this time it has received no serious attention.

The visit of the State Inspector of High Schools, however, seems to have brought the matter before the minds of the board and the people in general as never before.

"[4] The Annual report stated, "A four-year course would mean much for the high school, much in the way of scholarship 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 education.

The Class of 1912 was the first to graduate under the four-year curriculum-there being no 1911 class-but the new educational venture brought with it new problems for the school board.

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 $44,250 and on September 29, 1916, the new school opened with an enrollment of 500 pupils.

[8] 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 an ROTC unit.

In December 1930, the public voted 2449 to 1521 in favor of a $900,000 loan to build the present school on the site then known as Fisher's Farm.

Its beauty is enhanced by the large irregular and commanding site in which it stands, and by the variety of exterior design that reflects the manifold activities of a modern school building.

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.

[9] Similar cave-ins occurred in 1937 when the east end of the stadium was deemed unstable and suffered collapses and required numerous tons of fill to render the field safe for athletic competition.

[11] In order to accommodate the planetarium, the East Study Hall was partitioned off for the installation of a dome measuring 30-foot in diameter and two stairwells leading to the telescope in the observatory.

[12] The decision initially faced opposition from the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board and the St. Clair Teachers Association, but was ultimately upheld and the arrangement still is in place today.