New Dean At PHS Receives ‘Big’ Welcome

By Jonathan Redondo

The 2023-24 school year is definitely a school year of “new hires” at PHS. One of the more than two dozen new faces to grace our campus is our new Dean of Students, Mr. Simon Arriola.

Coming from Austin, Tex., Arriola is bringing “big” plans from the state where everything is bigger. He oversees all disciplinary actions at Pueblo, focusing on keeping students productive and maintaining order on campus.

“If you aren’t in trouble, there’s a good chance you don’t know me,” Arriola said half-jokingly.

Arriola said his first impressions at Pueblo were positive.

“It was clear from my first few days at Pueblo that this great school has many diligent students, and they have multiple opportunities to be successful,” he said. “The sheer number of students hoping to graduate and move on in their next chapter of life is very impressive.”

He added that the College Preparatory Academy is one example of offering students big opportunities for success.

“I already feel like a Warrior,” Arriola said. “I’m excited about helping students strive for excellence and success.”

Pueblo Administration Closes Hallway, Now Reopened

By Alyvette Moreno & Jenna Twaje

As Pueblo High School students walked the halls and climbed the stairs near the end of the first quarter, they were met with an unexpected block on their treks to classes.

The main hallway and stairways leading to it were closed and stayed closed until the end of the quarter. PHS administrators had been considering this idea for a while due in part to some of the violent, chaotic events at Cholla and Tucson High.

One day after second lunch ended, a “mob” started with students throwing water bottles around. Admin then decided to implement the closure of the main entrance.

“It [discipline problems] was [were] becoming a real safety concern,” said Principal Frank Rosthenhausler.

For some monitors, the closure made their jobs more challenging with students trying to sneak into the main hallway from the main entrance doors.

Security monitor Ms. Nellie Rivera said, “If the kids didn’t throw water bottles, then the hallway wouldn’t be shut down. Students suffer with the consequences of their bad actions.”

Mr. Simon Arriola, PHS’s Dean of Students, said, “The closure is only effective if the students realize they should not throw water bottles at each other.”

Many students had negative opinions on the hallway closing.

“It honestly sucked, and I didn’t like going around, I was late to all my classes,” said Kaz Detwiler, a sophomore.

Malo Anaya, a senior, believes admin’s decision wasn’t effective. “I think way more people were hanging out upstairs or on the stairs.”

Rosthenhausler said he didn’t like closing the hallways but said, “It was effective in removing what I thought was a dangerous situation.”

After a week of fall break, students were welcomed to the main hall and stairs being opened again.

A majority of PHS students took this return to normalcy positively.

Freshmen Continue To Cause Most Altercations At Pueblo

By Britney Carreon (Beginning Journalism)

Assistant Principal Frank Rosthenhausler at Pueblo High School announced that the amount of physical altercations this year has stayed “relatively the same as last year and the year before that.”

At the beginning of this school year, last August, the disciplinary action for fights changed from just having a three-day suspension. After November, this TUSD policy changed to having a “Big F”, which is a code to indicate the severity of a fight, which usually results in a student being suspended for three days. A “Little F” is a code that results in a three-day in-school suspension, usually requiring a student to spend those days with Mr. Mario Reyes, Pueblo’s ATS (Alternative To Suspension) teacher.

However, if there are any threats on Facebook, and this becomes public on school campus, this offense will have to be counted as a school threat, resulting in more severe consequences, Rosthenhausler said.

According to Rosthenhausler, there were approximately 17 total fights this school year.

He said that freshmen continue to cause the most drama on campus, and they make up the majority of physical altercations at Pueblo. Rosthenhausler said that the primary excuse for most fights was girls fighting over boys.

“The old cliché of ‘girls getting cheated on and wanting to fight the other girls’ is very common,” he said.

Rosthenhausler added, “Kids who don’t have issues resolved during their elementary and middle school years often bring those unresolved issues with them to high school.”

“When I first got to Pueblo, about five years ago, , I didn’t think there would be a lot of violence, but that quickly changed. These disciplinary problems are sometimes overwhelming.”

According to Mr. Mario Reyes, there are ways that Pueblo can reduce the number of altercations.

“With the restorative practice—which is detecting an issue before the situation gets out of hand—and finding quick ways to resolve these issues, we can minimize the number of altercations,” Reyes said. “We can also increase awareness of tensions and have more respect for one another, which would really help to ease tensions.”