Dear Capitol Hill Community,

A warm hello friends! I hope you’re having a joyous end of the year. By now you’ve received the announcement from PPS that I will be your new principal. I’m excited to join the CH community and serve in this capacity. Since leaving a career in university instruction over 18 years ago, I’ve been working in our district in various roles, from community liaison to teacher, mentor, and administrator. My two children attended PPS schools and graduated from Roosevelt High School, and during their time in PPS, I engaged in our school communities as a parent volunteer and PTA member. I have loved being a part of Portland schools from both perspectives, as a mom and as an educator, and I’ve had the pleasure of witnessing the many ways our faculty and staff care for and teach our children. We Portlanders are a vibrant, engaged and active community!

I enjoyed meeting so many of you during the annual BBQ yesterday. What a great turnout! As I’ve shared, I come from Argentina and immigrated to Texas in middle school, so my roots are in two strong BBQ traditions. I felt very much at home during the community event, and I’m so grateful for the opportunity to celebrate together.

On Monday, I’ll be joining Principal Sauers to greet students during morning drop off and visit with children, families and staff. In the coming weeks, I’ll continue the transition process with our current principal, and then I’ll be meeting with the Instructional Leadership Team to plan the start of school as well as the professional development for the year. I’ll be scheduling some Parent Socials for August and September to share those plans with you and create a space for us to get to know each other. Be on the lookout for that communication. If you have questions or concerns about the start of the year, please don’t hesitate to reach out. I do my best to respond to all emails within two working days.

I look forward to contributing to our community and supporting the Capitol Hill staff as we partner with parents to help students develop socially and academically. I deeply believe that communities are stronger when students experience a sense of belonging and competence in a supportive environment. I’m eager to build relationships with the current members of this school community, and towards that end, I’ve met with staff and invited them to meet with me individually. I want to listen to their perspectives on three questions:

• What’s working well at Capitol Hill?
• What could use a fresh approach?
• What does support look, sound, and feel like?
  
  

If you would like to add your voice, please use this form to do so, attend one of the Parent Socials, or reach out to schedule a time to meet with me.

In gratitude,

Febe Armendariz

Congratulations to Lincoln High School students Richard Deng and Coral Platt! Both were awarded National Merit Scholarships of $2,500 toward their college studies.

They were chosen from more than 15,000 finalists nationwide. Richard plans to pursue a career in politics and Coral is looking at a future in the legal sector.

Two exceptional PPS educators, Ricardo Barber and Hang Jones, were recently named OnPoint Educators of the Year for 2025.

As part of this prestigious honor, both teachers will have their rent or mortgage paid for an entire year, and their schools also receive a $2,500 donation. 

Ricardo Barber teaches third grade at Faubion, and Hang Jones serves as a social worker at Marysville Elementary. 

The OnPoint Prize for Excellence in Education celebrates educators who embrace innovative teaching techniques that ignite enthusiasm in their students. 

Congratulations to Ricardo Barber and Hang Jones! And thank you both for everything you do to make a difference in the lives our students.

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.