The drama club at Perry High relaunched last year with a wild idea: a zombie-apocalypse dinner murder mystery. Josey Cooley directed the show, acted in it and did hair, makeup and costumes.
It marked the start of a creative revival that’s still growing a year later.
The drama club is not only going strong, but has drawn a bigger, more enthusiastic crew for this year’s spring play.
“This year we’ve got so many people — more people acting, so many more people backstage,” said Cooley, now a senior. “It’s brought, like, a lot more art into Perry this year, because a lot more people want to sew, a lot more people want to paint for the sets and do a bunch of stuff for it.”
Perry now offers band and acting classes, along with photography and jewelry-making — a major shift from what was available just a year ago.
“It’s grown from there being one art teacher in one room,” said senior Silas Sawyer. “I think now we have several art programs, multiple art teachers across just like all over the building.”
Seen in the zine
- This story was adapted from PublicSource’s North Side zine. Click for info on the zine.
- And here’s all of our North Side coverage.
The expansion is part of the school’s continued emphasis, spearheaded by teacher Aaron Taylor, on expanding its arts program to make Perry a premier option on the North Side. And it’s happening at a time when Pittsburgh Public Schools overall is grappling with declining enrollment. While many schools face enrollment cliffs, Perry has seen modest growth and stability — a bright spot for the district.
A safer, stable school community
After gaining about 75 students last year, Perry’s enrollment held steady at around 430 students this school year.
The school continues to partner with A+ Schools to boost attendance, offering incentives and tracking data to keep students engaged. Alongside Everyday Labs, the school has identified nearly 70 students on the verge of chronic absenteeism and is using strategies like buddy systems, phone calls, gift cards and cellphone passes to encourage better attendance.
While safety remains a concern, Perry lowered its suspension rate by 10 percentage points in 2023-24 compared to the previous year. Students and staff credit programs like Safe Passages for helping reduce disruptive behavior.
This year, Perry also piloted an advisory program focused on self-efficacy, goal-setting and building strong relationships between students and staff.
“[The advisory] gives another adult to check in on a child, have conversations with children that aren’t always instructional, just to make sure they’re doing what they need to do, and it’s also a voice so that their voice is heard,” said Principal Molly O’Malley-Argueta.
She added that consistent leadership and improved staff attendance have helped foster a safer, more stable school environment.
Challenges in education remain
Senior Daz’jnae McFarland has worked diligently to earn the 1,250 hours required for a state cosmetology license through the school’s Career and Technical Education [CTE] program.
Although she enjoys practicing the nail designing skills she learned in the CTE program, McFarland aspires to become a lawyer. She maintains a 4.0 GPA and is taking advanced classes as part of the University of Pittsburgh’s Justice Scholars Institute [JSI], where she is researching racial discrimination in the court justice systems.
English teacher Jason Boll said programs like JSI are part of the school’s effort to get more students interested in attending college. However, engaging students to follow those pathways remains a challenge.
“We’re kind of built for reels and shorts right now, and so in order to understand a concept like chemistry, or in order to be an engineer, or in order to read a novel, you have to prolong, this is an act of prolonged attention, which is radical in today’s society,” he said.
Test scores have shown mixed results on progress. One-third of Perry students scored proficient in 11th-grade reading in 2023, compared to 23% in 2022. But students scoring proficient in math went down from 15% to 7% during the same time.
O’Malley-Argueta said the school has provided consistent tutoring to students who need additional support in math, biology and English.
“I think we’re in a pretty good place moving forward,” said Boll. “And I think you’re going to start to see more and more Perry kids not only attending college, but finishing college, and hopefully coming back to Pittsburgh.”
Looking forward
Despite challenges, spirits remain high at Perry.
In the last year, the school’s band has grown and added a color guard. The band has performed at various events and venues including Acrisure Stadium, the St. Patrick’s Day parade, Cedar Point and the One Northside 10-year celebration.
The drama club performed “Cabaret” in December and more students than ever are participating in the club’s activities since it was relaunched.
Taylor said his goal is to create a strong foundational program that can last in the acting world.
“These kids have something that is going to make the programs here that we’re trying to build last, and that’s pride,” he said. “They are proud to be a part of the acting community here. They’re proud to be a part of the band.”
Lajja Mistry is the K-12 education reporter at PublicSource. She visited Perry High School in spring 2024 and again this spring to report on its progress in light of the district’s overall enrollment challenges. Lajja can be reached at lajja@publicsource.org.
To read the May 2024 story, visit:
MOST READ STORIES
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
