PORTSMOUTH — It’s an oasis you can’t even see from the school’s parking lot. 

But for many Portsmouth High School students — especially seniors — the impressive pond located in the building’s courtyard will be a little piece of heaven for years to come.

The Portsmouth High School Green Club recently put the finishing touches on the pond, which was originally established around 2006 but neglected not long after.

“After a couple of years it wasn’t really being taken care of, or functioning any more,” said Sonia Staroscik, a rising senior and Green Club member.

Added teacher J.P. Arsenault, the club’s advisor, “I came here in 2008 and it was still kind of flowing with some fish in there, but it kept getting overgrown and nobody took care of it.”

Last year, Joe Nardolillo of the Class of 2023 made improvements to the pond for his senior project, working with Green Club member Heather Williams, also a rising senior at PHS.

“Joe wanted to restore the pond for the Green Club, and he cleared out a huge ditch and rocks were put in,” said Williams, who wrote out a grant for more improvements. “We got the grant money at the end of the school year, and Agway came out in the very beginning of this year.”

Arsenault said Domina’s Agway “has been awesome” in helping students restore the pond, after Mark Domina approached the school with the idea. 

“Heather has him on speed dial,” Arsenault said. 

“He answers my texts so quickly,” Williams added.

The pond features plants both around and in the water itself. The latter, called aquatic hyacinth, will help treat and filter the water to make it healthier and clearer for the koi fish that dart around the pond. A large metal sculpture of a ladybug, donated by a local artist in 2008, watches over the pond and surrounding gardens.

The rectangular-shaped courtyard, which sits smack dab in the middle of the school building, provides some tranquil greenery for the school, much as Central Park does for Manhattan.

“People eat lunch in here when it’s nice, mostly seniors,” said Staroscik. “We have an outdoor classroom set up behind the (field house), but my bio class comes down here sometimes when it’s nice out. We set up the tables and we do our work.”

Not done yet

Impressive as the pond is, it’s not the courtyard’s only feature.

“We just got a $78,000 grant, also written by Heather, to build a greenhouse in the courtyard. That’s gonna get started by the next school year,” said Arsenault, noting the grant came from the Learning Inside Out Outdoor Classroom initiative through the R.I. Department of Education.

The grant will also fund the creation a memorial garden in honor of Kristina Caragianis, a beloved PHS English teacher who died of cancer in November 2022 at the age of 27. Olivia Chaves and Lila Irwin wrote that part of the grant, and Chaves took over maintaining that area, Arsenault said.