The Senate was created to empower students to engage in dialogue and organize ways to improve our school community. The Senate includes all elected Student Council members and is led by a Senate president and vice president. Meetings occur three times a year on Saturday mornings. The Senate meetings are student-led using a set of discussion rules that help to ensure fairness and that all voices are heard. Michelle Wheeler and Heather Wheeler are the advisors to The Senate. The Senate secretary records a summary of the meeting in the form of "minutes," which are posted below:
2017-2018 Senate Minutes
2016-2017 Senate Minutes
2015-2016 Senate Minutes
The Senate carries out initiatives by voting to assemble committees to carry out various initiatives. These committees are chaired by Student Council members, but any student or staff member can join. The permanent committees are listed below:
Holiday Raffle and Giving Tree Committee:
The goal of the Holiday Raffle and Giving Tree Committee is to support the Clipper Family Fund. Each year, the committee reaches out to local businesses to secure prizes or monetary donations. Then in December, the prizes are raffled up and all the proceeds, including any donations, go toward the Clipper Family Fund. The Clipper Family Fund helps low-income students in the PHS community and ensures that they have equal access to all opportunities regardless of financial barriers. Here is more information about this year's Holiday Raffle.
Spirit Week Committee:
The goal of the Spirit Week committee is to provide the student body with an unforgettable week of school pride. This committee plans and organizes all the activities held during spirit week, including the homecoming dance. Each year they select the themes for each day of the week, after getting feedback from the student population, and they host the spirit rally on the last day of spirit week.
Traffic and Parking Committee:
School Safety Committee:
GPA and Grading Practices Committee:
The Equity and Inclusion Committee:
Dedicated towards initiatives that help to ensure full inclusion and respect for all students. In 2020, this committee partnered with Portsmouth Listens to engage in student-led dialogues on the topic of equity and inclusion. It also organized semi-formal for students in the PHS Unified Program.