In the 99-year-old PHS school building, construction and maintenance work is constantly needed and ongoing. At the PAC, materials and a temporary floor protector mark the location of projects that began shortly after graduation, which involves converting the old technology office and the Numina Gallery into new learning spaces. While the construction is visible in parts of the building, students note that it has not affected their school experience.
“I haven’t found the construction a distraction at all,” said Curtis Tam ’28. “I didn’t even realize all of this construction was going on.”
In addition to the ongoing reconstruction, the other main construction project at PHS this summer was preparatory work for the replacement of the building’s boiler and HVAC systems. The district’s construction plans are connected to the funding provided by an $89.1 million referendum approved by voters in January 2025.
The boiler and HVAC project is expected to take several years. The work completed at PHS over the summer was mainly preparation and smaller related jobs, as the district’s largest construction focus has been at Princeton Middle School. The project was paused during the school year and is expected to resume during the summer of 2027.
“The whole thing is planned,” said PHS Principal Cecilia Birge. “We don’t want to have construction going on during instructional hours.”
As of now, it is too soon to give a finalization date for the completion of the HVAC. On the other hand, the boiler work is expected to continue through the end of 2027.
“At this point, it’s too early to tell when the expected completion date will be. It certainly will be in 2027,” said Birge.
The former technology office is being reconstructed into three classrooms, but the school has not yet determined which subjects the rooms will be used for. The conversion is connected to the school’s need for classrooms, especially in a building where many rooms were built nearly a century ago and for a student population much smaller than the one that PHS hosts today.
“By reconstructing that tech space, that will give us that additional relief that we truly need,” said Birge.
Similarly, although the Numina Gallery is also being remodeled, the school still aims retain its original purpose for students.
“It’s being converted into two flexible learning classrooms, and we’re hoping that it’s flexible enough that it will also continue to function as a gallery,” said Birge.
The technology office and gallery projects began in late June 2026. The expected completion date is the end of December 2026, although approval processes, including certificates of occupancy, could affect when the spaces can be used. Since classrooms have already been assigned for the new school year, the spaces may first be used for standardized testing, spring musical activities, or other events.
“Different approval [processes] may delay it. … We will not be able to put a classroom because each classroom has been assigned a space already,” said Birge.
The construction projects are funded through the 2025 district referendum. The referendum was divided into three separate ballot questions. Voters decided whether to approve each question, and the questions were tiered, meaning projects included in later questions could move forward only if earlier questions were also approved. Funding approved through the referendum must be used for the projects voters approved.
“Once the bond referendum [gets approved], because the voters specifically vote for the stated use, that money cannot be used for other things,” said Birge.
The age of the building and previous growth in enrollment have contributed to facility needs at PHS. In 2020, enrollment was close to 1620 students and the building’s room utilization rate was in the 90 percent range. Enrollment is now about 1530 students, and changes to the bell schedule have helped with space use. However, the creation of extra classrooms is still both necessary and important.
Now that funding has come through from the 2025 referendum, the school has been able to start construction based on its own needs. Whereas a previous issue surrounding the ability to initiate construction had been a lack of financial support, PHS now has the funds to remodel the building.
“Before 2018, for a couple of decades, the district did not pay a lot of attention to our facility needs … [also as] the student population exploded. … [There was] heavy usage put on the building and the lack of oversight of facilities created this urgent need, this bottleneck of facility needs, and that’s why [the] bond referendum process took so long,” said Birge.
Other future projects at the PHS include reorganizing the math office, replacing furniture in the Learning Commons, and giving the courtyard more attention, among other plans.
For students, construction has remained in the background during their school day. The technology office and gallery renovations will continue through December and HVAC work is scheduled to return next summer.
“It’s nice that the school is renovating all these different parts,” said Tam. “It’s great that it has not really affected my schoolwork.”