Name Change Process Started for Middle School
- Hillsdale News
- 3 days ago
- 2 min read
[December 17, 2025]
Hillsdale's high school was renamed in 2021, followed by the renaming of the public swimming pool in 2023. Stripped of its name in 2020, A Park still awaits its new designation. Next on the list is Robert Gray Middle School.
Gray, a private ship captain and explorer in the 18th and early 19th centuries, is credited with naming the Columbia River, and throughout the Pacific Northwest his name appears on multiple schools as well as on rivers, bays, and other geographic landmarks.
On November 19, Principal Lisa Newlyn announced that Portland Public Schools Superintendent had approved the initiation of the name change process, per PPS policy.
In an email to parents, Newlyn said, "Over the past six years, RGMS students have questioned our school's namesake." During that period, she said, students investigated Robert Gray and found documentation of his association with the slave trade and violence against Native Americans.
In a letter to the school board, the student signatories acknowledged Gray's accomplishments, while also suggesting that there is more to be considered. "Do we want our school, where kindness is encouraged and community is valued, to be named after someone who committed such crimes?" they asked.
The name change committee will be composed of a diverse representation of the Robert Gray school community, and will consist of six students, six family representatives, and six total alumni and community partners, and will include Newlyn herself.
The committee will be responsible for developing guiding principles for name selection, reviewing community feedback, narrowing name options and making recommendations.
Built in 1952 to accommodate post‑war population growth, the school originally served grades K–8. While the date of the transition to the current 6–8 configuration is not publicly documented, people in their 60s who still live in Hillsdale attended Kindergarten there, so the change was likely not earlier than the 1960s.
Committee recruitment has begun. Interested community members can fill out the interest form or send an email to lnewlyn@pps.net.
—Valeurie Friedman
Thoughts? Questions? Comments? Let us know.