Phil Campbell HS Newsletter

What a week! Super proud of our students this week!

First, we announced our Class of 2026 Top Ten. Congratulations to our Valedictorian is Easton Hutcheson and our Salutatorian Kayden Headlee. I am proud of all of these students and this Senior class. They have been a great influence on our school. Their leadership is quiet and steady. I look forward to them having a great ending to their high school career.

Speaking of student leadership, if there were a Franklin County trophy for student sections our students would win running away! They have proven time and again this year they support their school and have a lot of school spirit! It was evident again on Friday night at the Franklin County basketball tournament as they helped lead our varsity boys to a comeback win over Belgreen.

Congratulations to our varsity boys and varsity girls on their runner up finishes in the Franklin County basketball tournament. Our girls narrowly lost to Belgreen in the finals on Saturday. Our boys lost to a very good Red Bay team in the nightcap. Congratulations to our all-tournament selections: Leela Baker, Layla Baker, Madden Welch, and Austin Elliott. Our varsity basketball teams will close out area play on Tuesday when we host Mars Hill. Senior Night will be Friday night when we host Lexington.

This week was the 33rd annual Alabama Board of Education Appreciation Week. We had a group of students present our board members small tokens of appreciation for all of their hard work and dedication to our students, our school, and education in Franklin County.

The 2026-27 school calendar was approved at the most recent board meeting. It's never too early to look at that calendar and start planning- especially vacations! You can see the new calendar at the very bottom of this newsletter.

Finally, this week the Alabama High School Athletic Association will release their long awaited and delayed reclassifications for the 2026-27 school year. I have a few thoughts on this I will share with you in a separate post below. In short, Friday is the release date. We don't know what will happen. We can't control what will happen. We can only control how we react, how we prepare, how we work, and how we compete! Never shirk from any level of competition! Embrace it and do your best to beat the teams you have to play!

Have A Great Week!

Bart Moss

Principal

Friday the AHSAA will release the long awaited and delayed reclassification numbers for the 2026-27 school year. They will also release new areas/regions for Fall sports such as football and volleyball. One of the most asked questions I get is, will we stay in Class 3A or fall to Class 2A? and Who will be in our area/region?

Answer: I have no idea (and no one else does either)

Here is what I do know:

* Reclassification takes place every two years.

* Phil Campbell is historically a Class 3A school (with the exception of a couple of times)

* Classifications are based on the number of students a school has enrolled in grades 9-11, any 8th grade holdback, or students who attend virtual school/home school and participate in athletics.

* Our numbers were 198 students in grades 9 through 11.

* What I didn't know but learned this week is that 9th graders at East Franklin are counted toward our numbers. They have 17 in the 9th grade. So our 198 plus their 17 makes our official count of 215.

* I think this has always been the case we just didn't know it until this year because we were so close to changing classifications.

* We will find out for sure on Friday. I will post on Facebook and send out a special email when I find out.

My gut tells me we will remain in Class 3A. I could be wrong. I have been many, many times. I have worked hard to put our kids in the best position to be successful in every sport, not just one or two. Some things are out of my control, however. We can win in Class 3A or in Class 2A in any sport if we work together and not against each other. We need our best athletes playing all three team sports in boys and girls. We have to out work and out prepare our competition. And we need our parents cooperation and support!

Board of Education Appreciation Month. L-R Board Member Terry Welborn; Students Adeline Hunderman, Ragan Moss, Austin Elliott, Hayston Scott; Superintendent Greg Hamilton

Franklin County Tournament Snapshots

If there were a championship for student sections our students would have been the runaway winner Friday night at the varsity boys game vs. Belgreen. Simply the best!

Franklin County Tournament Snapshots

We had 15 members of our PCHS Marching Band participate in the Northwest Alabama Honor Band over the weekend.