North Penn High School, a building with over half a century of history, will soon be renovated. Classrooms will be painted, new windows will be installed, and unique landmarks will be changed. Before North Penn High School enters a new era, let’s dive into the building’s strange structures and the history behind each one. 

Underneath The Old Pool

Near North Penn’s main lobby lies a door to a dimly lit, concrete stairwell. Each step leads closer to a time when the school’s auxiliary gym didn’t exist, and the pool was in a different part of the building. 

So, what is the purpose of this staircase? Where does it go? Simply put, it leads to what was once the pool pump room. 

“This is where all the pool mechanics used to be. You can see there’s still some of the piping that used to come from the wall that was cut out from the pool room.” Dr. Pete Nicholson shared.

Off to the side of the room is a hallway leading to the back of the school. It used to serve as a way to carry chlorine into the pool pump room.

The room and hallway were repurposed as a storage area when in the early 2000s, the old pool was shut down and filled in with concrete. As a result, the new pool and auxiliary gym were built. 

Today, this room is home to hundreds of chairs and desks. A few years ago, when the auxiliary gym was used for testing, North Penn staff would carry the desks and chairs from this room to the gym. 

What does the future hold for this area? Not much, but the area above will likely be turned into a hallway and a recreational area for students.

The K-Pod Gate

Built in 1999, K-Pod is one of North Penn High School’s newer additions. With it being home to classes such as chemistry, photography, and news journalism, nearly everyone in the building has experienced the pod’s modern architecture and huge staircases. However, only a few know about the ominous structure on the third floor. 

A chain link fence and a large gate stand in the way of what seems to be a top-secret area. What lies beyond the gate? The answer is actually quite simple.

“The stairwell is here to access the roof…The gate is here to disallow folks that could get on the roof.” Administrator of Secondary Education and Renovations Dr. Pete Nicholson said.

The area is similar to the top of the other staircase in the third-floor K-pod, except for the door to the roof and the chain link fence. It is suspected that the fence was added a few years after the pod’s construction, possibly to keep out trespassing students. However, this is only speculation and not a confirmed fact.

Besides a few cardboard boxes, the space is empty. But the view can’t be beat!

Stages in B-Pod Classrooms

B-Pod is known for being home to North Penn’s language classes, but not many people know of the strange stages in two classrooms. Each was originally installed with the purpose of being a platform for public-speaking students. 

Over the years, one of the two classrooms was transformed into a language lab, where the stage served a different purpose.

“There are two different stages in B-Pod. One of the classrooms used to be a language lab. Everyone would have their own little carousel and you would repeat and record yourself speaking Spanish…. The teacher would have a massive control-room console up on the stage…” Coordinator of Communications Media Mr. Gilmer said.

Today, these stages are just another part of the classroom. They will most likely be removed during the renovation.

The F-Pod Gate

Every day, hundreds of students pass the F-Pod gate without giving it a second thought. For the past few years, it hasn’t been worth it to stop and inspect the area. After all, it’s nothing but a dark hallway with stacks of boxes, but a couple of decades ago, this area looked completely different. 

“This used to be an open classroom space. The storage closet [to the right] is made of drywall. That wasn’t here before. It was built after the fact. So, this was once a wide open space.” Dr. Nicholson said.

There are two potential outcomes for this area post-renovation. 

“In the concourse, we have high-top tables, so we would add some of those to this space. This could be an area where students could sit down during Knight Zone or sit between classes.” Dr Nicholson said.

On the other hand, the area could be cleaned out and turned into an office. 

Either way, this area, and many other parts of North Penn, will be completely different in the next few years.