A new sign erected at the newly renamed Panther Valley Intermediate school is one of the last steps in reconfiguring the grade levels at all three of the district’s schools.

And the schools’ principals report that the new configuration of grade levels has been working since it was put in place for the 2015-16 school year.The district added two grades to the high school and shifted two more to the former middle school in order to reduce overcrowding at the elementary school.At Thursday’s school board meeting, the principals gave their opinions on the transition after being asked by board President Jeffrey Markovich.While the most noticeable impact has been on Panther Valley High School, which added a wing for seventh- and eighth-graders, it has affected all three of the district’s schools.“I have a whole new building. All three grades are new. I think it’s gone very smoothly,” said Lisa Mace, intermediate school principal.The intermediate school, formerly known as the middle school, now hosts grades 4-6. Last year, it was grades 6-8.The entire reconfiguration was undertaken to reduce the number of students at Panther Valley Elementary School in Nesquehoning. That school went from K-5 to K-3.Mary Figura, the elementary principal, said that her building is considerably calmer since the beginning of the year. It has enabled the district to get rid of the overflow trailers that had become a semi-permanent part of the campus.“It’s nice just being without the worry of kids being outside,” she said. “It’s like a whole different building. Very calm.”The most anticipated part of the transition was the addition of seventh- and eighth-grade students to the high school.Principal Joseph Gunnels said that the junior high students are separated from grades 9-12 for most of the day.“The buildings are like two schools under one roof,” Gunnels said. “When the junior high kids are at their specials, the others are out.”Junior high sports teams are now practicing along their varsity counterparts as well.While there was some concern about the age range, Gunnels said that it has created great opportunities for older students to mentor the newcomers.“If anything, I have seen older kids acting more of a mentoring role,” he said.Markovich asked Gunnels if he thought it was a good idea to replace the school’s pool with the new wing.Gunnels did his best to stay out of the debate.“It’s working out. I don’t know much about pools, but I do know about schools,” he said.