Highland Park Family Newsletter

We are so proud to share some wonderful news with you, our school, Highland Park Elementary, made the Educational Results Partnership 2025 Honor Roll list, placing us among the top 15% of schools in Texas. Even more special, Highland Park was the only PfISD campus to meet the criteria for this recognition. This recognition belongs to our entire Highland Park community, and we could not do this work without the ongoing support and partnership of our families.

This honor reflects the strong learning happening in our classrooms, including student performance in STAAR Reading Language Arts and Math, as well as meaningful growth for our historically underserved students. It speaks to the consistency, care, and high expectations our staff hold for every child, every day. To earn this distinction, schools must perform above the state mean at least 80% of the time across all cohorts for three consecutive years while serving a student population with at least 33% economically disadvantaged students.

This achievement belongs to our entire Bulldog community, our students, staff, and families who work together to support learning and growth. We are incredibly proud of our students and grateful for the dedication of our staff. Congratulations, Bulldogs!

This week, we began interim testing, and we are very proud of the hard work and effort our students demonstrated. Interim STAAR testing will continue next week for students in grades 3–5, and PK–5 will wrap up middle-of-the-year testing. We know it’s a lot of testing and our students are tired. Thank you for continuing to provide encouragement and positive reinforcement. We’ve got this!

As we transition into February, we will highlight the history and contributions of African Americans in recognition of Black History Month, not only this month but throughout the school year. To kick off this important time, our campus will facilitate lessons and host events to honor Black History Month. Please be sure to review the dress-up theme days included in this newsletter.

Next week is National School Counselling Week from 02/02-02/06! We love and appreciate Ms. Anna Vazquez and are excited to celebrate her! Highland Park is blessed to have the best of the best!

Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend. Go Highland Park Bulldogs!

With Thanks,

Lizbeth Ruiz

Principal

Please join us in celebrating by dressing according to the themes below.

Ms. Vazquez has a special way of making every child feel heard and valued, whether she’s helping a student work through big feelings, celebrating small wins, or simply being a calm, kind presence in the hallway. Her heart for kids shines through in all she does, and our Bulldogs are better because of her. We are so grateful to have Ms. Vazquez as part of the Highland Park family!

This is a friendly reminder that sidewalk construction is currently taking place and will continue for the next few weeks. The construction impacts the route our student walkers and bike riders previously used to cut through the grassy area to access campus.

During this time, all walkers and bike riders must use the designated crosswalk at the main entrance. Staff members will continue to be on duty each morning to supervise and support student safety.

Teachers will share student middle of the year testign results with parents soon.

02/02/2026 -4th Grade STAAR Interim Math

02/03/2026 - 3rd & 5th Grade STAAR Interim Math

02/04/26- 4th Grade STAAR Field test

02/05/2026 - Interim Testing Make up

02/18-03/04- TELPAS Testing Window K-5

Please review the Progress Report and Report Card Dates below:

• 02/06- Progress reports due
• 02/13- Progress reports availabe to parents
• 03/13- 3rd 9 weeks ends
• 03/23- Grades due
• 03/30- Report cards available to parents

HPES Knd-2nd Specials Color Group Schedule

HPES 3rd-5th Specials Color Group Schedule

• Interim testing, no visitors during lunch time on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.
• Pre-LPAC Meeting on Monday in the library- bring your data to make informed decisions on language of testing for STAAR

Have a staff member who really matters and whom you want to recognize? Let’s recognize our HPES Bulldogs, no kudos is too big or too small! If you have any kudos you’d like to share, you can submit kudos here:

HPES Bulldog Weekly News Kudos

Click here to submit your kudos to the monthly PfISD Digital Magazine

Click here to submit your Pfamily Kudos

• Thank you so much to the teachers and staff who help our students and families at the cross walks each day. They literally put themselves in harms way to block for our kiddos and we are so grateful to them for going above and beyond!
• A huge thank you to all teachers and support staff who supported interim testing this week! Your dedication, organization, and flexibility ensured that testing ran smoothly and our students could do their best. We are so grateful for all you do for our students every day.
• A special shout-out to our lower grade teachers and specials staff for helping maintain a calm and focused testing environment for our upper grades. We know it’s not easy to keep our littles quiet while testing is happening, and your patience, creativity, and support made a big difference.

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Highland Park Elementary School - Valentine's Day 2026

**Each child will receive a candy bracelet with a scented gel pen. **

Send a sweet surprise! Use this form to order candy grams for your friends and class. All items will be labeled and delivered Friday morning on February 13th before their parties.

2025-2026 Academic Calendar with grading periods, student holidays, etc.

* Note- Additional dates will be added to the spring semester.

Jan. 27-Feb 3- STAAR Interim testing Grades 3-5

Feb. 4- 4th Grade Reading STAAR Fieldtest & 3rd - 5th DL Reading STAAR Field Test

Feb. 13- Valentine's Class Parties

Feb. 16- Staff Development /Prep Day & Holiday for students

Feb 18-Mar 4- TELPAS Testing K-5th

Feb. 26- Fine Arts Night

Mar. 1-6- Read Across America Week

Mar. 5- Kinder Rodeo

Mar. 13- Field Day

Mar. 16- 20- Spring Break

Mar. 27- Bingo Night

Apr. 1- Kinder Egg Drop

Apr. 2 - Kinder Fieldtrip to Austin Science and Nature Center

Apr. 3- Student & Staff Holiday

Apr. 9- 1st Grade Folk Dance Performance

Apr. 14-17- Reading Language Arts STAAR Testing for 3rd - 5th Grade

Apr. 17- Kinder fieldtrip to - Zach Theatre

Apr. 21-24- Science STAAR Testing for 5th Grade

Apr. 28-30- Math STAAR Testing for 3rd- 5th Grade

May 4-8- Teacher Appreciation Week

May 8- Career Day

May 11- 15- End of Year Awards PK, 1st, 2nd, 3rd & 4th

May 12- GT Showcase

May 19- Kinder and 5th Grade Graduation

May 20- End of Year Class Parties

May 21- 5th Grade Walk, Last Day & Early Release

• Student birthdays will be announced and celebrated over morning announcements. Students will also sing Happy Birthday in the classroom.

• Parents may bring cupcakes/treat to celebrate their child's birthday. However, notice must be given 24 hours in advance. Cupcakes/treats may only be passed out the last 30 minutes of class.
• Student treats (i.e., store bought cupcakes) cannot be served in the cafeteria during lunch. Treats cannot be a full meal (i.e., pizza) Teachers must receive parent permission prior to students eating store bought cupcakes/treats due to student food allergies.
• For classroom food activities such as party days or food-related learning activities, parents will need to complete an allergy permission form stating which foods their student is allowed to eat or handle. If this form is not returned prior to the event, the student will not be able to participate in the activity.
• We appreciate the care and time that the teachers and allergy committee members have given to this very important matter. We are dedicated to keeping our kids safe here at HPES and believe that this will help achieve that for all our students.

Here a few ways to stay informed. Follow us on Facebook @HighlandParkES. School communication will also be sent out through school messenger via email. On Tuesday’s an HPES folder will be sent home with flyers and information. Please be sure to look out for the folder on Tuesday’s. Additionally, please sign-up for our mailing list at You will receive a weekly campus newsletter through the mailing list. You can also find a copy of a newsletter like this one in our campus webpage under “Principal’s blog”.

Every summer, there are staffing changes. Staff members move on to other opportunities, and new staff members join the campus. Before emailing a staff member from last school year, it would be wise to check with our front office staff. It is also a good idea to consider which staff member is your first point of contact for questions before you send your email. You may also call the front office at 512-594-6800 and ask for the person you need to speak with.

Senior Admin. Associate: Sabrina Smulski– sabrina.smulski@pfisd.net

General questions regarding scheduling, procedures, teacher information, leave requests, substitutes, purchase orders (for your classroom/students), monthly and bi-weekly payroll, supplemental pay, staff travel, events, field trips, website updates, FB page, maintenance orders, after-hours events, fundraisers (any collection of money), Picture days, etc.

Registrar: Miriam Ruvalcaba – miriam.ruvalcaba@pfisd.net

Student records, registration, residency questions, attendance, transfers, withdrawal, cumulative records, and folders, grade-book, etc.

Student Support Clerical Support: Yaira Torres- yaira.torres@pfisd.net

Schedule LPAC and 504 meetings, and gather student grades, relevant classroom, and health data.

Receptionist: Anita Moreno anita.moreno@pfisd.net

General questions regarding school procedures, conference times, and lunch times.

Nurse: Christina Monfort- christina.monfort@pfisd.net

Shot records, allergy information, distribution of medication, general student health, Section 504, and SpEd as related to health, etc.

Counselor: Anna Vazquez – anna.vazquez@pfisd.net

Student care and concerns, parent and student support, Credit by Exam, Gifted and Talented information, assessment, and Section 504

Assistant Principal: Pamela LeDay–pamela.leday@pfisd.net

Primary contact regarding discipline, LPAC, and SpEd. Additionally, virtually everything you would contact Ms. Ruiz for. It is a good idea to copy Ms. LeDay on emails sent to Ms. Ruiz because both of them are able to respond to questions or concerns.

Principal: Lizbeth Ruiz – lizbeth.ruiz@pfisd.net

Any and all topics covered by the staff members listed above.

Please feel free to email or call us if you are needing support. We look forward to serving the families of Highland Park Elementary!

For questions, please click on the "Let's Talk" link: https://www.pfisd.net/Page/7772 or reply to this newsletter on the upper right hand corner.

Website: https://www.pfisd.net/site/Default.aspx?PageID=37
Location: 428 Kingston Lacy Blvd, Pflugerville, TX, USA
Phone: 512.594.6800
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HighlandParkES/
Twitter: @HighlandPark_ES