Authored by: Dian Martin, Coordinator of Educational Services

Several of Perris Union High School District students were living the dream this summer. The Perris Union High School District Workability Program placed over 25 students in a paid work experience within the community. These students earned an average of $720 and let me tell you these students were not only excited to earn some CASH but they also learned valuable job skills. PUHSD receives Work Ability funds to support students with special needs:

“It has been my experience that our communities WorkAbility I program is an unmistakable example of a great partnership that positions our youth to become better indoctrinated in the modern workforce. I appreciate the experiences I’ve had to teach about what we do here and provide guidance to a vision of good. The overwhelming majority of WorkAbility students are well armed and enthusiastic to explore the inner workings of our business and discover roles that interest them in future endeavors. I am proud to work for a company that supports the alignment of student and business and am sincerely thrilled when a student realizes their path”

What makes a hero?  Is it an act of bravery that is above and beyond what a normal person would do? Acts of bravery are usually selfless acts done to help others.  The hero does not stop to weigh possible legal implications or possible personal impact.  Heroes do what they do because it is the right thing at the time to help someone else.  Employees at Paloma Valley High School in Menifee recently witnessed such a display.

Tuesday morning, April 14, at approximately 9:10 a.m., school officials were alerted that an adult male was in a pickup in front of Paloma High School and was non-responsive.  A local contractor, who is the father of a student attending PVHS, was driving by the front of the school when his male employee passed out in the passenger seat.  When he could not rouse him he pulled into the school driveway looking for help.

The contractor quickly parked and rushed to the front gate and explained what was going on.  A mother of a Paloma student was at the gate at the time and explained she was an ER nurse at a Children's Hospital in Orange County.  She immediately went out to the truck.  The victim was turning blue and she began performing CPR while he was still in the truck.  When the school administrative team arrived shortly afterwards, they were able to get him out of the truck and the parent continued CPR on the ground.  911 had already been notified.  Paloma’s Nurse CNA (Certified Nurse Assistant) performed mouth to mouth in between sets of compressions.  They were able to get him breathing for short periods of time.

When the ambulance and fire department arrived, they took over.  It took several minutes to get the man stabilized before they were finally able to transport the him to Loma Linda Hospital.

There is no doubt that the quick work of the mother and the school’s CNA saved the man's life.  They were heroes in action.  It is gratifying to know people like this are living among us.  They look like you and me, but they acted when others might have simply waited for someone else to act.

No one knows when they will be put in such a situation, but the fortunate citizen in the Paloma parking lot benefited by two unsung heroes.

Perris High School is the oldest campus in PUHSD. Having been built in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s, the campus was opened for business in 1961 and had it’s first graduating class in 1962. The original Perris High campus has withstood the test of time and served the students of the Perris community throughout the 50 plus years that it has been an educational institution.  The majority of the campus has remained the same, with the exception of the addition of a two story science building in 2006, a two story 14 classroom building in 2007, and 2 classroom buildings completed in 2013 and 2014 in Phase 1 discussed below. The original campus reached the end of its intended life and the need to renovate Perris High arrived. The Facilities Department has embarked on the long needed campus transformation that will ultimately bring Perris High School into the modern era of high school campuses and provide the facilities our PUHSD students and staff deserve.

The Perris High School transformation has been broken down into 5 phases of construction. This is necessary due to the campus transformation being performed on a campus that is open and serving students during construction. The phasing of the Perris High transformation is dependent on funding and each phase will be planned and timed in a way that any funding opportunity is captured. The different phases are broken down to split the campus into 5 zones in which the phased work will occur, ultimately leading to completely rebuilt campus.

Phase 1:

The Perris High transformation began with the construction of a couple of two story classroom buildings which are located along Ruby Drive at the eastern edge of the campus. This phase was broken into an A and B phase. Phase A included an 18 classroom building that incorporates an elevator for compliance with ADA requirements. Phase 1A was completed in August of 2013. Phase 1B was the addition of a 10 classroom, two story building. This building was completed and occupied in January of 2014. The completion of Phase 1 provided a total of 28 classrooms for student use.  In order to make space for the Phase 1 buildings the former woodshop building was demolished along with an agricultural greenhouse and other outbuildings that formerly occupied the footprint of Phase 1.

Phase 1A & Phase 1B

Phase 2:

This phase has recently begun on the campus and is a big step in the overall campus transformation. Phase 2 has been described as the phase which transforms the heart of the campus. It was approved by the State Architect for construction in December of 2014 and contracts for construction were awarded in March. Like phase 1, Phase 2 has been split into an A and a B phase. Again, this is due to  the availability of funding for the project. The first portion of Phase 2, known as Phase 2A, includes the construction of the new boys/girls locker rooms, along with two 2 story classroom buildings and a satellite kitchen kiosk. These buildings will incorporate an open site plan which is a change from the closed and compartmentalized feel of the old campus. The creation of an open breezeway, known as Panther Parkway, will greet students as they enter the campus and provide a greater amount of visibility across the campus for security and aesthetics.  As part of the Summer 2014 work that occurred at Perris High, a total of 13 classroom buildings were removed from the center of the campus to make way for the Phase 2A project and ultimately 2B as well. Phase 2A is scheduled for completion in December of 2016. Phase 2B  will follow phase 2A and will include a new student union along with a kitchen. Along with the kitchen and student union, a new location for the Panther Den will be included. The Phase 2B building will also house an auto shop and other career tech classrooms. Finally, ROTC will also have their new facilities in this building, right next to the new campus supervisor office. A construction date for Phase 2B has not been identified and a construction start date will be decided as funding becomes available.

Perris High School Phase 2A and 2B Project Scope

Perris High School Phase 2A

Perris Agricultural Center for Excellence (PACE) Phase 2:

The second phase of the new agricultural program facility has been planned in conjunction with Phase 2 of the campus transformation. This new facility includes a 12,700 square foot, two story building. This new building will house the Perris High Agriculture program. This building will include classrooms, lab areas, a new floral shop, and have a very unique second story terrace garden. This second phase of the Agricultural facility renovation follows Phase 1. Phase 1 was completed in 2012 and included a new greenhouse, farrowing barn, and shade house. The PACE Phase 2 project has been designed with input from Perris High site staff and is currently being reviewed by the Department of State Architects office. This project will be constructed when funding is available  The goal of the Facilities Department is to build this project in conjunction with Phase 2B of the Campus PACE Phase 2

PACE Phase 2

Phase 3:

This phase will completely rebuild the library, administration office, career center and reconfigure the science courtyard.  This area is between the two story science building and the current library and will be expanded and designed as a gathering area for outdoor teaching opportunities. As part of Phase 3, the parking lot in front of the administration building will be reconfigured and expanded The anticipated capacity of the new parking lot will almost double the amount of parking currently available in this area.

Phase 4:

The Perris High campus will get a very exciting addition in this phase. A fully functioning visual and performing arts building is included in Phase 4. This building will house the theater, drama, band, choir, as well as an arts courtyard and service yard.

Phase 5:

Phase 5 will ultimately be the last construction project at Perris High. This phase includes facilities that are related to athletics and will augment the stadium complex. In Phase 5, the pool service building, tennis courts, basketball courts, dance room, and stadium team rooms will be built.

Completed Perris High School Transformation

Through this campus transformation, Perris High will become a modern educational facility with the capability to support not only the educational programs of our District but also the rich technological initiatives that our District has embraced. The recent start of the Phase 2A project was possible because of the community’s support of Measure T in 2012 and moves the campus one step further along in the campus master plan.

Perris Union High School District recognized Adrian Garcia, a student at Perris High School, at their monthly meeting on April 15, 2015. Adrian was commended for his quick thinking and prompt action in assisting Perris resident Paula Johnson in the incident described briefly below:

On August 1, 2014 about 6:00 PM, Ms. Paula Johnson walked across the street from her home to pick up her neighbor's mail.  When Paula reached the sidewalk, she felt something on her right ankle.  As Paula turned around to look what was on her ankle, she saw her neighbor’s German Shepherd.  Paula then felt something on her left ankle and saw another dog owned by the same neighbor.
Both dog’s started biting Paula, one on each side of her!  Paula began screaming and yelling for help as loud as she could but to no avail.  Paula could see that there were about six people on each side of the street that just stood and watched what was happening to her.
When Paula fell to the ground, she felt she did not have much time left because she began to black out, but then she looked up and saw a young man looking down at her.  The dogs had stopped biting her and Paula was able to get up. Suddenly, one of her neighbors pulled their car up to her so she could jump in.
A few days later, Paula wanted to find the young man but didn’t know where to find him because she had never seen him before.  Paula did not give up and learned that the young man lived a few streets over and that his name was Adrian Garcia.  When Paula thanked him for helping her, she asked “How did you get them to stop?”  Adrian replied “I just started kicking the dogs.”  

Adrian was 15 years old at the time.

PUHSD and Perris High are very proud of Adrian for aiding someone in need of help and for his quick action in the face of danger.