Students at Pittsburgh Schenley High School are known for taking their studies seriously, and they don't like to be distracted while taking a test or practicing a foreign language.

Yet they say the Reizenstein building in Shadyside, Schenley's home beginning this school year, isn't student-friendly.

"In Reizenstein, the walls are paper-thin, and you can hear everything from every classroom," Will Morrill, a senior from Point Breeze, said.

Still miffed that their school's historic Oakland building was closed for maintenance reasons in June, Schenley students said the move to Reizenstein has turned out to be pretty much what they feared:

Inconvenient. Disappointing.

"A lot of making do," senior Minrose Straussman of the East End said.

Students had few complaints with the quality of teaching but skewered the building's features, climate and location.

"It feels like a middle school because it was set up as one," Chris Pogue-Geile, a Point Breeze senior, said.

"The pillars are orange, and the walls are purple."

Fred Quinn, a Hill District senior, said the walls are so thin that he heard a student sneeze in an adjoining classroom. He said he offered a "bless you" -- and received a "thank you" in reply.

Students said the move left them feeling like second-class citizens in a school district whose improvement campaign is called "Excellence for All." They said it was disrespectful treatment of one of the city's best schools.

"I think the attitude of students has changed a lot," Molly Tonsor, a senior from Highland Park, said.

"I don't know that I can speak about the quality of work, but I can definitely say there's a lot of palpable anger and resentment in the students this year," she said. Student-faculty relations seem to be cooler, she added.

Reizenstein, built in 1975 and used as a middle school until a round of school closings in 2006, was never a popular district building. The district used the building as an employee training center from summer 2006 until August, when it became Schenley's home.

District spokeswoman Ebony Pugh acknowledged that voices can carry from one room to the next. She said the walls "do not go up to the ceiling, and they are a little thinner" than those in other school buildings.

The district spent about $3 million to prepare a section of the building for Schenley students; another part of the building will remain vacant until the new International Baccalaureate school becomes a co-tenant next fall. Improvements for Schenley included carpeting, paint, lighting and two student lounges.

Students complained about an inadequate number of restrooms and science labs and said hallways and stairwells are narrow, making it difficult to get from one classroom to another between periods.

"Last year, it was easier to get around, even though it was a bigger building" in Oakland, sophomore Alonzo Murphy of the Hill District said.

Students also complained about a lack of natural light -- the Oakland building's windows are bigger than Reizenstein's -- and said the fluorescent lights in Reizenstein give them headaches.

And they said the lounges are nothing more than open, carpeted areas without furniture. "There's no such thing as a lounge," Ms. Tonsor said.

Becca Ridge, a senior from Highland Park, said the Advisory and Activity period instituted this school year is of little use to clubs because students have the period at different times. Some students reportedly leave early rather than sit through an activity period at the end of the day.

The district had a different take on the A&A period, saying it turned into a study hall when students showed little interest in offered activities.

From a commercial standpoint, Reizenstein has an enviable location in the shadow of East Liberty's development boom. But students said they preferred Oakland, with its proximity to universities, restaurants, coffeehouses and the main branch of the Carnegie Library.

Students, parents and alumni last year begged the district not to tamper with Schenley, one of the district's higher-performing high schools, where students of different backgrounds and academic groups happily mixed.

However, Superintendent Mark Roosevelt said academics weren't as rigorous as they could be for all student groups, and he said the district couldn't afford more than $80 million in renovations to the Oakland building. Supporters still dispute that estimate.

This school year, freshmen who ordinarily would have gone to Schenley were diverted to other schools. Students learning English as a second language also were removed from Schenley.

Schenley's remaining students -- about 690 10th-, 11th- and 12th-graders -- were relocated to Reizenstein and told they'll stay together until their classes graduate. Without freshmen, Schenley will die in three years.

In August, Mr. Roosevelt said the school is "still Schenley. It's just in a different building." But students said the school has changed, in part because enrollment is down and student groups don't mix as much.

"Definitely, you can notice the difference. I think, more than anything, it definitely feels temporary. It feels as if it could be broken down tomorrow, and we'd all be gone. It doesn't feel like home," said Ms. Straussman, the East End senior.

Students said it's been difficult to get access to theater equipment left behind in Oakland, and sports teams aren't bonding as easily as before because they now include ninth-graders from other schools.

Schenley's Oakland building had equipment for robotics classes, but students this school year must travel to Pittsburgh Peabody High School in East Liberty for robotics classes. The district provides a shuttle bus.

Schenley students also travel to Peabody for theater practice at the latter school's bigger auditorium. In addition, Schenley students may take ceramics, culinary arts and Excel classes at Peabody, while Peabody students may take certain science and language classes at Schenley.

Schenley students cited occasional tensions with Peabody peers, saying each group feels like the other is "invading" its space.

In December, a Peabody student accosted a Schenley student outside an East Liberty convenience store. Even before that, Schenley students said, school officials discouraged them from lingering in East Liberty and told them not to wear Schenley jerseys to Peabody on game days.

Lashon Blackwell, a Schenley sophomore from East Liberty, said her school traditionally has considered Pittsburgh Allderdice High School in Squirrel Hill its rival in academics and athletics. "Now," she said, "it's more like Peabody is our rival but for a different reason."