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New Principal Hiring Process

Dear Capitol Hill Staff and Families,

We will soon begin the principal hiring process. We will gather your input on the skills and characteristics you desire in the next Capitol Hill principal at a staff and community meeting. Your voice is important and one way to share your perspective is through the staff and community feedback meetings and/or a survey linked below. The survey will be open through May 5th. We will also host sessions with the staff and community to discuss the hiring process and hear your feedback. The staff session will be on April 30 at 2:45 p.m. A meeting invite will be sent directly to staff. The community session will be on April 30 at 6:00-7:00 p.m.

After May 5th, we will use the information from the survey and staff and community meetings to match candidates to the skills and characteristics you identified. If we have a current PPS principal that matches the identified characteristics, that candidate may be directly appointed by the Superintendent. If we do not have a current employee that matches the identified characteristics and whose skill set aligns with Capitol Hill’s needs. The next step in the interview and hiring process is to hold a school-based interview committee process to select candidates for recommendation to the Superintendent.

Community Survery: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd6k7XuqWUPm0aTVTDm7s7LdHC4r9650lo_-HvJ_P-CSYaK_A/viewform 

Community Input Virtual Meeting | Wednesday, April 30th 6 pm | - Virtual Meeting Link: https://meet.google.com/yrk-absv-dni?authuser=0 

The assignment their teacher gave them was simple – make a short film that begins with a phone call and ends with someone hanging up. Benson first-year students Dylan Martinez-Torres and Dariel Soriano Zamora ran it all the way to a small city populated by two very big and rather iconic monsters – Godzilla and Hedora.

The result, Sorry, Wrong Number, is one of the more than 90 films entered into the annual Best of PPS Film Festival. The festival is a celebration of exceptional student filmmaking that includes a showcase at the historic Hollywood Theatre. 

The fourth annual installment of the festival took place on May 21 and included a screening of 13 standout films. The films came from all over PPS and ran the gamut from Dylan and Dariel’s monster short to documentaries, film noir, and broadcast journalism. 

If you are a passionate student or community member that wants to make a difference at PPS, apply to join the Climate Crisis Response Committee! This is a committee that reports to the PPS Board of Education.

On the committee you will learn about how PPS is making progress towards our climate justice and sustainability policies, provide input and recommendations to the PPS Board on how to better support PPS staff as we advance these policy goals, and connect with other passionate members of our PPS community from diverse backgrounds, knowledge areas, and lived experiences.

No previous professional experience in climate change or sustainability required! Students can apply via this form. Community members can apply here.

Deadline to apply: June 6. 

Earthstock 2025 was a huge success!

Each year, special education students from across the region gather at Portland's Crystal Ballroom for a truly unique and uniquely joyful high school dance. 

Earthstock began in 1992 at the request of a young student who was confined to a wheelchair and was disappointed he couldn’t attend the high school dances because of transportation issues. There were 60 kids at the first event. Earthstock now entertains more than 700 students, staff and volunteers, and is rapidly becoming one the largest events of its kind in the country. 

Students at Skyline school were recently treated to a visit from PPS teacher-turned-graphic novelist Aron Nels Steinke. 

Steinke is the award-winning author and illustrator behind the popular Mr. Wolf's Class series. He also taught at Skyline during the 2015-16 school year.

During his visit to Skyline, he opened up to a group of third, fourth, and fifth graders about how he got started as an author despite struggling to read and write in school. He also read a short excerpt from his newest book, Speechless. 

Speechless tells the story of Mira, a sixth grader who spends her first year of middle school finding herself and her voice. Skyline students were some of the book's first readers. We can't wait to see what Mr. Steinke writes next!