Ferrahian High School

School History

Holy Martyrs Cabayan Elementary & Ferrahian High School was founded in Encino,
California in 1964. The historic founding of the school marked the establishment of the first Armenian-American daily educational institution in the United States.

The establishment of a bilingual Armenian day school was one of the many goals of the Armenian-American community during the first half of the 20th century. The first real opportunity for the realization of this goal occurred in the early 1950s, when Attorney Mateos Ferrahian bequeathed $300,000 toward the establishment of an Armenian/English bilingual high school. Several years later, Mr. Gabriel Injejikian, an educator from Lebanon, in cooperation with the Executive Board of the Encino-based Holy Martyrs Armenian Church, took the necessary steps to start a high school in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles County. A single family home adjacent to the church was purchased and converted to a school. Thereafter, in the fall of 1964 instructions began with 12 students.

A decade later, the governing board of the school initiated a project to begin
construction of the main campus, which was completed in three phases from 1974 to 1980. The school further expanded in 1978 with the addition of the elementary and kindergarten sections. In 1989 a second campus was acquired in the North Hills region of the San Fernando Valley and since then, the school has operated on two campuses; the high school, the middle school, and the main administrative offices in Encino and Kindergarten, elementary school as well as the preschool, in North Hills.

Over the years, the school has grown substantially both physically and academically. I t enjoys the status of a reputable learning institution. In school year 2007-2008, enrollment reached its peak; 751 including 140 preschoolers. In the ensuing three years the enrollment dropped by more than one hundred. Today, the student population stands at 650.