Plano East Senior High School

District Champs: 1985 12-5A, 1988 12-5A, 1994 11-5A, 1998 9-5A, 1999 9-5A, 2000 9-5A

In 1994, Plano East was on the losing end of a wild and memorable regional semi final game against John Tyler High School in which five touchdowns were scored in the last two and a half minutes (courtesy of three consecutive successful onside kicks, followed by a regular kickoff returned for a touchdown). The game received the 1995 Showstopper of the Year ESPY Award and in 2006, ESPN ranked the game among its top 10 premature celebrations of all-time.

The Plano East Swim Team is a Division 6A swim team in Texas, part of UIL Region 2, District 7. It was added to the 6A category when the category was formed in 2014.

Plano East placed 7th at State in 2005, the highest placement ever for the Plano East swim program.

The Plano East bowling team began in 2001, winning the state title in 2006 and 2010. In the 2005–06 season, Plano East qualified fourth (behind Allen, Plano Senior and McKinney) during district play to qualify for regionals. At the Region II playoffs, East finished second to Allen and qualified for the state playoffs in Houston, Texas. In Houston, Plano East swept Sachse (2-0), Killeen (2-0), Ellison (2-0) and, finally, defeated the defending champions Garland Lakeview 2–1. This was Plano East's first team state title since its creation in 1979. In 2009 the girls team won 2nd in state. In 2010 the Plano East boys varsity bowling team won the state championship for the second time, defeating defending champion San Antonio Madison in San Antonio. In 2011, the girls team won the state championship, defeating Katy High School in the final round.

Plano East Panthers Varsity won the AT&T Silver Division championship in 2006-2007 defeating Plano West 3–1 in the championship. Plano East Panthers JV won the AT&T State Championship in 2014-2015 defeating Lovejoy High 3-1 then repeating another championship the JV Panthers won the City Championship 5-1 Against McKinney High in the 2016–2017 season . Hockey is also not an officially recognized sport by the Texas University Interscholastic League

Plano East's lacrosse team has played since 1997, reaching the THSLL Division 2 Final Four in 2001, 2004, and 2005. In 2005, the team lost to Plano West 13–12 in the State Championship game. Lacrosse is governed by the Texas High School Lacrosse League and is not a University Interscholastic League-recognized sport.

Plano East is home to PISD's only orienteering team. Hosted by the ROTC program, the orienteering team won the North Texas Orienteering Association championship for the competitive year of 2005-2006 as well as the 2006–2007 school year. Members of the team also represented the city of Plano at the National competition both years, in North Carolina and in Maryland where they ranked 4th in the nation on the varsity, and junior varsity level. The Plano East Panther Battalion JROTC Orienteering Team earned a spot at the 2010 United States Interscholastic Orienteering Championships in Batavia, Ohio. The Freshman and Junior Varsity Teams took first place in their respective divisions while the Varsity Team placed 4th overall.

The IB World School at Plano East is a 4-year program that starts in 9th and ends in 12th grade. Students from several Plano ISD middle schools come to PESH to attend the IB program. The 4 years consists of the International Honors Preparatory Program for 9th and 10th grades and the IB Diploma Program for 11th and 12th graders. The IB World School is housed at Building 1 (B1). The IB program consists of a new approach to learning. In 9th and 10th grade, students take a two period class that uniquely combines English and Social Studies: Humanities I (combination of AP Human Geography and English I) in 9th grade and Humanities II (combination of AP World History and English II) in 10th grade. Juniors and Seniors are required to take one subject from each of the six groups:[11][12]

• 1. Language and Literature
• 2. Language Acquisition
• 3. Individuals and Societies
• 4. Experimental Sciences
• 5. Mathematics
• 6. Arts & Electives

The IB Diploma Program also requires students to take Theory of Knowledge (TOK) starting in their junior year, participate in Creativity, Action, Service (CAS), an extra-curricular program, and write an extended essay of 4,000 words in their senior year. IB Students have the choice of taking certain AP courses instead of IB courses.[13][14]

Plano East Senior High has a JROTC program that currently holds the Honor Unit with Distinction (HUD). It has held the HUD for more than 17 years, and as of 2016, the battalion ranks 1st in the state of Texas. The various extracurricular teams consist of the Rifle Team, Cybersecurity Team, Armed Drill Team, Color Guard, Leadership team, Academic team, and PT (Physical Training) Team.

The Plano ISD Health Sciences Academy is a health and science program offered at Plano East Senior High School for grades 11 and 12 at Building 4 (B4) for students interested in pursuing a job in the medical field. Students from the Williams High School Health Sciences Academy come to Plano East for the second half.[15] With a partnership with Collin College, students gain many opportunities: college credits, workforce certifications, working with real medical equipment and communicating with the local medical professionals (through field trips and clinical placements in skill-based classes). [16][17]

Plano ISD Career and Technical Education offer additional medical courses in Plano ISD Health Sciences Academy than any other school. Extensions of the following classes that are taught at the Health Sciences Academy include:

• Biomedical Science
• Pharmacology
• Practicum/Clinical Rotations
• World Health Research

The Plano East Band consists of four concert bands (The Wind Ensemble, Symphonic Band, Concert Band, and Varsity Band), the Plano East Marching Band, and a jazz ensemble.

The band is one of the most decorated bands in Texas. In 2000, the band was named the winner of the Dale C. Harris Exemplary Band Program Award by the American School Band Directors Association. This distinction is annually awarded to the top band program in the United States. In addition, the band has 37 consecutive years of Superior Ratings and Sweepstakes Awards in the University Interscholastic League (UIL) for marching, concert, and sight-reading competitions. In 2006, the Wind Ensemble was named honor band runner up at the State TMEA Honor Band competition.[18] The Plano East Senior High Marching band has been a finalist in the Duncanville Marching Invitational six times since 1999 and was named Grand Champions in 2001. Additionally, the Plano East marching band was awarded the prestigious Sudler Shield award by the John Phillip Sousa Foundation in 2012. Under the direction of Evelio Villarreal, John Brennan, and Ryan Albert, the Plano East Senior High School bands have grown and risen to become among the best in the State of Texas, while maintaining a standard of excellence.

The Plano East Orchestra is one of the top programs in the state, receiving multiple state and national awards.[19] The chamber orchestra under direction of Betsy Thomas was named as the Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA) High School String Honor Orchestra for the 2010–2011 school year.[19] The orchestra has received the award of Honor Orchestra from TMEA 6 times in the last 12 years, more than any other school in Texas.[19] TMEA restrictions allow the school to participate in the honor orchestra contest only every other year after if they win. The PESH orchestra also won a national competition in 2003 and 2005. Starting in the 2008–2009 school year, the orchestra was no longer allowed by the school district to compete in both the state and a national competition. As of 2019, the Plano East Orchestra is under the direction of Ann G. Smith and associate director Kelton Burnside.[20]

The Choir Program consists of three main choirs: Mixed Choir and the Men's and Women's choirs. Plano East Choir also has two audition-only groups called Sound Invention and Treblemakers. The choirs put on both a fall and a spring show during the academic year, and Sound Invention and Treblemakers also put on their own themed fall and spring shows. In March 2016, the Plano East Men's Choir was selected to perform at the Southwest Division of the American Choral Directors Association in Kansas City, Missouri.

Plano East offers multiple distinct theatre-related programs, including: an advanced Technical Theatre (AT) program, a Theatre Major Studies (TMS) program, a Theatre Honors Production (THP) program, a Musical Theatre Production (MTP) program, a Drama Intensive (DI) program, and an IB Theatre program.

The Plano East Drama Department is headed by Brian Grunkowski, the director, and Zizi Wright, the technical director.[21]

All students are able to take advantage of experts that are brought in for workshops, particularly professionals from neighboring Southern Methodist University, UT Dallas and Collin College, as well as attend the North Texas Drama Auditions if they are in the 12th grade.

The Advanced Technical Theatre students participate in all department productions while learning lighting, set design, stage managing, and sound design. All advanced tech students send submissions into the annual state UIL design competition. In the 2012 season, under the direction of Zachary Elms, the technical theatre department received six nominations at the state UIL design competition, scoring wins with fifth place in publicity, and fifth place in set design. Plano East also took home the top prize in set design. All Technical Theatre students are led by Brian Grunkowski, who stepped in as technical director after Zachary Elms left at the end of the 2014-2015 year.

Theatre Major Studies is a double block, audition only class, where students focus primarily on performance and script analysis. Students are taught the techniques of Stanislavski, while also learning various movement based skills, such as Viewpoints.

Theatre Honors Production is a single period, audition only class and is similar in structure to the TMS class.

Brand new to Plano East, the Musical Theatre Production class was established in 2016 by Brian Grunkowski. Students learn about the history of musicals from script to Broadway, while learning choreography from different musicals, singing various showtunes, and exploring the musical side of theatre. This class is also audition only and takes place for one period (5th).

The Drama Intensive program is an audition only program set up for IB World School students in the 9th and 10th grade. Geared to help students get ready for either TMS, THP, or IB, the DI class is involved in the Plano 9th/10th One Act as well as producing their own, unique Drama Intensive show utilizing these students.

Set up for students involved in the IB World School the IB Theatre program allows to earn their SL or HL in this class by learning about Dramaturgy and various styles of theatre across the globe which ultimately culminates in a performance in the Courtyard Theatre at the end of the year, allowing students to showcase their talents by demonstrating a piece they've written by themselves after researching a style of theatre.

The theatre department produces twelve major productions each school year: A Theatre Major Studies show (limited to students in the program), a Theatre Honors Production show (limited to students in the program), the 9th/10th One Act, an open audition musical, a Drama Intensive show (limited to students in the program), six senior-directed one act plays, and the open audition one act.

Plano East's one-act competes annually in the state UIL One-Act Play Competition every spring. In 2006, under the direction of Lisa Hale, Plano East won the state championship for their production of The Marriage of Bette and Boo.