Northeast Portland mother Thelma Diggs did Tuesday what she hadn't in decades: She took her now 56-year-old daughter back to school.
In doing so, she experienced what she imagined many parents will on Wednesday as they usher their children to Faubion School, where she sent her two children long ago.
The school, once squat with a tired, mass-produced look, has been fully rebuilt into a sleek learning environment complete with soaring windows to let in natural light, a new early childhood learning center and a wellness center.
"There is no comparison," said her daughter, Deidra Diggs-Logan. "This is state of the art."
The Diggses and other community members had an opportunity to tour the new building at a welcoming event that drew Portland politicos and people past and present who have helped shape Oregon's largest school district.
Districtwide, nearly 50,000 students head back to school Wednesday. Most other Portland-area districts will welcome students back next Tuesday.
Faubion is one of three new Portland Public Schools buildings opening with the start of the school year. Students at Franklin High and Roosevelt High will find their historic schools fully remodeled and expanded, thanks to a 2012 voter-approved bond.
Faubion is unusual as both its new facilities and its day-to-day operations benefit from a partnership with neighboring Concordia University. The new design integrates the public preK-8 school and the private university. The idea is that the shared spaces helps fuel the already robust cooperation between the organizations. College students get the opportunity to learn teaching, tutoring and mentoring skills in the hand-on setting of Faubion, knowing their contributions make a difference. They in turn help provide services to the diverse young students and make higher education part of the children's lives from an early.
Former Faubion principal LaShawn Lee came back for the re-opening, even though she has since retired to the south. Lee was Faubion's principal from 2008 to 2016 and a plaque dedicated to her graces the building and credits her "courage, leadership and vision" for the inspiration of its partnership with Concordia University and Trillium Family Services.
Lee called the new Faubion a "beacon of hope" for the long-neglected portion of Northeast Portland. She praised parents for being in the trenches to get the school to where it is now and teachers for embracing and supporting her efforts.
Teacher Teri Griffin said she'd been "dreading" the new building. This is her 23rd year teaching at Faubion. It had been painful to leave the old school with all its memories behind, she said.
But she has new walls of whiteboards she is excited to use in a room that is filled with natural light. It's a relief to like the space, and on the hot summer day like Tuesday, the new addition of air conditioning felt pretty great, too, she noted.
When the kids come back, she said, she knows it will start to feel like home.
— Bethany Barnes
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