LifeChanger of the Year Nominee Profile

Dr. Jesus Armas was nominated by his colleague, Lisa Jones.

"When you have the privilege of working with Dr. Jesus Armas, there is no doubt in one's mind that his name should be entered," Jones said. "Dr. Armas's commitment to Royal Palm Beach High School (RPBHS) and the community is all about relationships. Through his leadership and accomplishments, Dr. Armas has changed our school and community for the better and in ways that redefine what it truly means to be a LifeChanger."

When Dr. Armas arrived at RPBHS, he did not walk into an "A" rated school, where students and staff were holding hands singing Kumbaya.  Instead, he walked into a "D" rated school that had three principal changes over the past seven years. The school had lost students and staff to neighboring high schools that had recently opened up, which ultimately caused several boundary changes, and Free and Reduced Lunch numbers were increasing.  When Dr. Armas came to the school, RPBHS had a student body, staff, and community that was fragile. There were only three career academies to offer to students, there was a perception that the school was unsafe, and the community was getting weary of its local high school.  

"I think it is important to mention that Dr. Armas was not appointed to our school," said Jones. "He applied and interviewed for the job. He was offered the position and accepted it. As he walked into our school, he made it clear that RPBHS was not his school. It was ours, which immediately fostered a new sense of hope. Dr. Armas came in and asked us to create a vision for the school. A committee was created, as well as a vision over the summer of his arrival. Once we developed our vision, he explained that, along with us, he would lead the school in an effort to fulfill that vision by fostering a culture of respect, aligning its systems, and leading instruction.  He taught us what a true Professional Learning Community was supposed to look like. Over the past 10 years, even with COVID-19, he has led us and stood beside us to uphold every piece of the vision.  The students own it.  The staff owns it.  The parents and guardians own it. The community owns it.  Why? Because all of us were represented in the committee, and all of us revisit it annually, even when we have to do it virtually."

Since the conception of the vision, Dr. Armas has created a safe, respectful, and socially just environment for students and staff over his ten years of service. Safety measures were put in place for students from a school app, where students were encouraged to report safety issues at any time and could be anonymous.  He looked at the physical access to campus, and that led to a single point of entry and exit. He implemented a series of student-friendly practices designed to institute respectful relationships between students and himself. Dr. Armas also created opportunities for disenfranchised subgroups to have a voice through coursework, clubs, and focus groups such as Latinos in Action, Bold Leadership Excelsum, My Fair Ladies, Black Student Union, and specific focus group meetings from varying collections of the student population.  He is in the hallways, courtyard, classrooms (including Google classrooms/meets), athletic events, academic events, and more. The kids know who their principal is at RPBHS.  

While keeping the students safe, Dr. Armas also focused on creating programs and opportunities for rigorous academics, with an emphasis on personalized learning for students throughout their time at RPBHS. Over the past several years, he has supported faculty and community through input and needs analysis data.  He has increased student choice opportunities in college and career academies, as well as student opportunities to enroll in accelerated courses. He has also ensured that standards-based, rigorous instruction is being delivered. 

Dr. Armas systematically added the following opportunities for students:  STEM Academy, AVID, AICE courses, Computer Gaming, IB, and Navy JROTC.  His goal was to advance personalized instruction by allowing more choices and adding rigor to the coursework while increasing student interest in applying for one of the RPBHS programs. As a result, the number of students choosing RPBHS as their first choice on Choice Applications with the school district increased from 69 in FY10 to 279 in FY19.  The graduation rate was 70% in FY11 and is now close to 93% in FY20.  He has done all of this while leading a Title I school, and it is absolutely working!  The students and staff work hard to be their best!

While keeping students safe and creating programs, he was also working hard making relationships with a weary community outside of the school walls. On a regular basis, he began to attend the Royal Palm Beach Village Education Advisory Board meetings while getting to know each member of the Royal Palm Beach Village Council, as well.  He made it a point to reach out to feeder elementary and middle schools, get to know them, have his school get involved with their schools, and always support them. These relationships ultimately evolved into the Royal Palm Beach K-12 Continuum, which has a purposeful academic alignment with all schools.  It is quite impressive to witness the community come together, and he handled it just like he handles every student and staff member.  He creates positive relationships by connecting with every person he meets.  Literally.  He will tell you, "When relationships are built, respect naturally follows. Respect allows us to have a healthy relationship whether we agree or disagree, but we always get the job done for our students."  

"Dr. Armas shows up every single day working hard for RPBHS," Jones said. "He wanted the job.  He got the job.  He is doing the job and more.  Even when the world seemed to shut down due to COVID-19, it didn't stop Dr. Armas from reaching out to his students, staff, and community. Not even COVID-19 could stop Dr. Armas from continuing our vision of excellence, even if it has to be presented through a screen. He has always emphasized SEL in students' daily lives/lessons, but especially now with COVID-19, it is a priority for his students and staff.  He has changed the lives of his students, their parents, his staff, and his community.  Yes, he is Palm Beach County's Principal of the Year for FY20, but for the past 10 years, he has always been Principal of the Year to his Royal Palm Beach students and staff."