Dozens of Pittsburgh Schenley High School students wrote their own civics lesson yesterday when they rallied in front of Pittsburgh Public Schools' Oakland offices, hoping to save their school.

In all, about 250 students, parents, alumni and others took part in the protest before the school board's monthly public hearing. The hearing was dominated by calls for the board to spare the landmark Oakland school.

"I want to graduate from Schenley. It's a tradition in my family," said one protester, Leah Tatman, a junior in Schenley's international studies program.

Superintendent Mark Roosevelt last month proposed closing Schenley at the end of the school year, saying the district cannot afford more than $64 million in renovations to the 91-year-old building.

He proposed moving about 550 students in Schenley's international studies/International Baccalaureate magnet to a new IB school for grades six through 12 in Shadyside. He proposed moving the 175 students in Schenley's robotics technology magnet to Peabody High School in East Liberty and the rest of Schenley's 1,100 students to a new university-affiliated school for grades six through 12 in the Hill District.

Like they did at a community meeting a week ago, Schenley supporters last night assailed the idea of splitting up a happy, diverse student body and closing one of the district's most successful schools.

"Why can't they just move the whole school?" asked protester Geneva Taylor, a Highland Park resident who has a son at Schenley and another at Pittsburgh Rogers 6-8 in Garfield.

Schenley supporters said they want to keep the school building open. But if the building must be closed, Ms. Taylor and others said, the school should be moved, intact, to another location.

"Ultimately, it's the people that make the school," Schenley junior Minrose Straussman said during the rally.

The board won't vote on Schenley's closing until at least February. But at a special meeting today, the board will vote on hiring consultants to prepare designs for the IB school, the university school and other projects; supporters fear that action will set in motion a chain of events leading to Schenley's demise.

Supporters last night demanded the board postpone the vote on architects and other consultants until additional efforts can be made to study Schenley's maintenance needs and seek funds. Some disputed the reported $64 million cost.

"I think a better price is out there for the renovation of this school," Highland Park resident Harry Kunze said during the hearing.

Mr. Roosevelt has said the proposed changes would provide more rigorous instruction to all Schenley students. He also has said he's studied Schenley's situation for two years and cannot find money for renovations.

Some Schenley students walked from school to district offices, piling their backpacks against the side of the building before joining the protest along Bellefield Avenue. Ms. Taylor said the students had taken a cue from the district's new ninth-grade civics course, "Be the Change."

The protesters chanted, held signs and whooped when passing cars honked in support. An ambulance gave a quick burst of its siren.

Students from Pittsburgh Frick 6-8 in Oakland also participated. Mr. Roosevelt's plan would incorporate Frick into the new IB school in Shadyside.

Among the 50 people who signed up to speak at the hearing were a handful of Schenley teachers who demanded the school be spared.

"Schenley deserves to be fixed, no matter how much the cost ... Pittsburgh cannot afford this loss," teacher Joe Ehman said.