Highland Elementary School

Congrats Mrs. McKenzie!

🎉 **HIGHLAND BRIGHT SPOT STAFF SPOTLIGHTS!** 🎉

Let’s give a huge round of applause to our **September Spotlight Staff Members**—**Tracy Ousley** and **Amanda Pelton**! 🐾✨

These incredible ladies go above and beyond every single day to make Highland the absolute best place for our students and staff to grow, learn, and thrive. We are so lucky to have them on our team! 💙

Thank you, Tracy and Amanda, for your dedication, passion, and hard work! Drop a congratulations comment below to help us celebrate them! 👇👇

#HighlandPride #WildcatNation #StaffSpotlight

Third grade wore blue today to support Bully Prevention Day.

The Highland Resource Center is gearing up for spooky season and is in need of costumes for students. Please donate any unneeded costumes by bringing them to the front office.

Wrestling season is right around the corner! Come out this Friday to support our Golden Eagles, and while you’re there stop by to get signed up for this season! More signup dates will be available as well. 🤼🏼💪🏼🖤⭐️

Monster Mash Dance - Sponsored by the HES PTO

🐾💙 Highland Happenings for Families! 💙🐾

We’re ready for another great week at Highland! Check out this week’s newsletter for important dates, practices, Habit 3, AR and i-Ready goals, Kona Ice, and more. 🍂📚🏀

Good Students. Brighter Tomorrows. Wildcat Pride! 💙🐾

Help Support our Boys' Basketball team!!

🎃👻 October is going to be SPOOKTACULAR at Highland Elementary! 🍿🧡

Our PTO has lots of fun planned for our Wildcats this month! From popcorn and dancing to Halloween pictures and Boo Grams, there’s plenty to look forward to! 🕸️🎶📸

🍿 Rayann’s Popcorn Fundraiser
🎃 PTO Halloween Dance
📸 Halloween Pictures with PS Photography
👻 Boo Grams coming soon!

Check out the flyer for all the dates and details, and keep an eye out for information coming home with students! 🧡💜

We can’t wait for a FUN October at Highland! 🐾🎃

Apple activity #3 in STEAM, students completed the Apple A-Head challenge in which students had to create an Apple balancing head gear device on their own using the materials provided. We tested those devices in an Apple Day relay race to see whose head gear balanced the Apple best! Our last activity was about objects that sink or float. We discussed buoyancy, watched a Brainpop Jr video, learned about making predictions and observations, testing and checking those predictions for accuracy, and then actually predicted whether or not an apple would sink or float in water. Most thought it would sink, but they learned that the apple floated! The lesson ended by predicting what other objects sink or float in a video and checking to see if they were correct! Apple Day activities in STEAM has made for a fun week!

Apple Day activity #2 in STEAM, was to design and build the tallest tower using toothpicks and Apple chunks that would stand on its own. Students found it challenging to create a tower with those supplies and the exact way to design such a tower that would stand, however they eventually did it!

For Apple Day, students in STEAM have been doing activities with apples. The first activity was to design and build a tower at least 10-20 cubes high that would balance an apple on its own for a minimum of 10 seconds. Students had to work together to design, build, and improve their tower to meet the criteria of the task. The tension was high, but they did well!

💙Happy Custodian Appreciation Day!💙 Today we’re celebrating three very important members of our Highland family — Brandon, Brian, and Phillip! 🧹✨ Thank you for all the big things, the little things, and everything in between that you do to keep Highland Elementary clean, safe, and welcoming. Your hard work often happens behind the scenes, but it never goes unnoticed! We are so thankful for each of you and all you do for our students and staff. 💙🐾 Highland appreciates you! Happy Custodian Appreciation Day! 🎉

Miss Fairchild's 1st Grade class had a busy Highland Harvest day.... making apple pie in a cup, picking pumpkins, eating ice cream, meeting Johnny Appleseed, and more!

If your child is representing Highland Elementary in the Apple Day school event on Friday, October 2, 2026 please see the tentative schedule for the events. You will need to meet Mrs. Bayes in front of the Court House to receive your apple lanyard to be worn in the event you are participating in.

Harvest Day fun with Mrs. Bevins' room.

Mrs. Bevins' homeroom hopes everyone has a great Fall Break!!!

Mrs. Wright’s kindergarten class has had such a fun filled Apple Week, from making butter and apple pie in a cup to picking pumpkins and hay rides!!! 💙⭐️🍎

🚌 Bus Transportation Update

Highland families, please be aware of the following transportation changes for this afternoon:

Bus 93 will run late bringing students home, as it will make stops at the middle and high school first.

Thank you for your patience and understanding as we work to get all of our Wildcats home safely! 💙

We had some very special guest speakers in our 5th-grade classrooms today! Former Johnson County educators Mr. Blevins and Mr. Burchett returned to Highland to take our students on an out-of-this-world journey through space exploration. 👨‍🚀✨

Our 5th graders got an insider look at the incredible work being done in space, why scientific discovery beyond Earth matters so much, and how curiosity in the classroom can lead to extraordinary careers in the future.

It’s always a privilege to welcome back educators who continue to inspire the next generation of leaders, thinkers, and explorers. Thank you, Mr. Blevins and Mr. Burchett, for giving your time and sparking so much excitement in our students!