Megan Todd, Kimberly Morlan and Brooke Baker sit on the front row of one of the computers labs during their class period on Monday. Photo by Kellie Singleton.

PHIL CAMPBELL – There was an air of excitement floating around the Phil Campbell community on Monday as students, faculty and staff filed into the new Phil Campbell High School for the first official day of classes in the new facilities.

PCHS principal Gary Odom said the first day went even better than expected and he was excited and proud for the students and staff to finally be settled in their new “home”.

“Last week we did a tour of the new school by grade so each student would be familiar with where to go on the first day here,” Odom said.

“I think that really helped the students because most of them got where they needed to be without any problems. We had a few glitches here and there, but overall, it was a great first day in our new school.”

The process it took to get to this day has been slow and frustrating at times. In the time since the April 27, 2011 tornado severely damaged the school, the students and faculty have made three separate transitions for temporary facilities to hold classes – Northwest Shoals Community College, the mobile units assembled on the PCHS school grounds, and the two churches in the community, which housed students ever since school started Aug. 8.

And for close to two years, construction crews have been working round the clock on the new Phil Campbell High School, and the whole community watched as, slowly but surely, bricks were laid, walls went up, a roof went on, and the new school finally began to take shape.

“I know it has been difficult not having a stable, permanent place to go each day,” Franklin County Schools Superintendent Gary Williams said, “but the students and all the teachers and staff have showed so much strength and resilience through this process.

“I just want to commend them and especially commend the administration and Gary Odom. They did an exceptional job preparing for this day and are the reasons why it has gone so well.

“I also want to thank our assistant superintendent Donald Borden. Donald has been the go-to man on this project and has been involved in every aspect, from decision making to problem solving – doing his best to make sure this school was the very best for our students.”

Borden, who graduated from PCHS in 1974, said he was just glad to see this day finally arrive.

“This is a great day for the Phil Campbell students, for the teachers, for the staff, for the administration, for the parents, for the community, and for our school system as a whole,” Borden said.

“The Phil Campbell community has something they can truly be proud of for years to come, and it has been great seeing the excitement on these students’ faces as they’ve gotten to finally enjoy their new school.”

The 105,000 sq. ft. facility houses five distinct sections – the main building, the media center, the career tech building, the band room, and the gym/auditorium.

“Having a combination gym and auditorium was something we had to compromise on because there wasn’t enough funding to have a separate auditorium,” Williams said.

“We hated to have to do that, but now that we see the finished product, I believe this will be a great option for PCHS.”

Williams said the gym/auditorium is similar to the one at nearby Northwest-Shoals Community College could house 1,300 people.

“We have it set up so that there is a basketball court that runs the length of the gym, but the gym is wide enough to have two full courts running horizontally so there can be two separate practices or games going on a once,” he said.

“There is also a concession stand that can be used for games or used during the school day to get state-approved snacks.”

Near the gym/auditorium is a section of the school that will put many students’ and parents’ minds at ease – the school features four safety rooms with a hallway and bathrooms that have been reinforced with concrete and steel to withstand winds of up to 300 mph.

“These four rooms will be utilized as classroom space, a place for our cheerleaders and for a weight room for our student athletes, but they can hold 1,000 people if we ever need them for a tornado warning,” Williams said.

“With everything that happened three years ago, this was something our parents, students and faculty really wanted to see. These rooms will also be open to the public after school hours.”

The band room features an office, a shower, storage, and 22-ft. ceilings that will allow the band as well as the auxiliaries to practice indoors.

The wide-open media center will have a place for books as well as a computer lab for research.

The career tech building will feature an ag shop as well as a home economics classroom and lab.

The two-story main building will house all the academic classrooms, two computer labs, a science lab, teacher work rooms, the nurse’s station, and the main office.

And all of the sections of the school surround a courtyard area that students can use during the school day.

Phil Campbell senior Luke Baker said he and the rest of his classmates enjoyed their first day at the new school.

“It has been great to finally be in an actual classroom,” Baker said. “It’s also been great to know that we’ll be the first class to graduate from this new school. I’m sure we will make a lot of good memories here between now and May.”