Portola High School

The Innovation Lab is run through the staff in the library (aka. the Student Commons) and contains multiple methods and machines to produce products using multiple formats such as plastic, metal, wood, etc.

The school is laid out in groups of buildings:[7]

• VAPA Arts
• Theater
• Stadium and associated buildings
• Science Building
• Math Building
• English and foreign language classes
• Administration and food services

(Note: Some groups are omitted due to lack of occupied classrooms in sections)

Classroom building groups are linked on the second story by walkways.

Many spaces have multiple uses; the cost savings allowed for construction of the theater, stadium, and aquatics center in the first phase rather than in a later expansion.[7]

All academic buildings are numbered with four digits, the first two of which represent the building group and range from 1 to a number in the 10s. The third number is either 0 or 1, for a ground-level room, or 5 or 6, for a room on the second level.

The middle of each floor in the building contains a student collaboration area with multiple arrangements of seating, a projector, whiteboards, and whiteboard tables. This space can be used both for quiet work and for collaboration between classes.

The Student Union is an indoor area used for lunch and small events. Outside, tables form a "quad" where students can eat and converse. However, students are free to roam through the campus to eat during lunch, provided there is sufficient supervision.

The Learning Commons functions as the school library, containing databases that students can use for research as well as multimedia resources including two TVs, and also providing study space.[12] It is separated from the Student Union by a retractable glass wall; they can be combined to provide space for events.[7]

The 720-seat theater holds an advanced A/V setup with wireless audio, manual and automatic lighting, orchestra pit, and a full stage. The seating areas are split between two floors. The building, along with a normal theater with stadium seating, contains a black box theatre for specialized uses.

Lacking a traditional inter-class competitiveness, the Portola staff established a house system. There are four houses, which compete for points: Orion, Poseidon, Hercules, and Pegasus. The ASB of Portola is charged with creating and hosting competitions and events which give students the opportunity to earn house points.

The Portola News Network, or PNN, releases a bimonthly broadcast that is shown in Advisement on Tuesday to inform students on school and global events, as well as feature certain students and play various videos developed by the school's Video Production class.[13]

The Portola Pilot is the school's newspaper. It publishes its papers bi-monthly and is free to students.