Highland Park Senior High News

Highland Families,

All of the planning the Highland staff has been doing to be ready to welcome our new and returning students will come into play on the very first day of school next week.

It has been exciting to welcome our new ninth grade students at the orientation as they engaged with their classmates, connected with current friends and made new ones as well. Kudos to our Scots Squad student leaders for working with the incoming freshman students so they feel more comfortable on the first day of school. High school is a significant transition in the lives of our students and we as a staff are here to support each and every student to graduate college and career ready and have fun along the way. Please reach out with any questions and thank you for your continued support.

Thursday, September 17, 2026

• Highland Park Senior High All Grades Open House 6:00-7:30 pm

For the first time, students from SPPS performed at the Minnesota State Fair this week. The band consisted of students from every high school in Saint Paul. There were 8 students from Highland that participated this year. The student attended two rehearsals during their summer break and performed at the daily State Fair parade on September 1. They did an awesome job representing SPPS and Highland Park Senior High!

The Highland Park Senior High PTSA is looking for enthusiastic parent volunteers to join our team. When you volunteer with the PTSA, you help strengthen the vibrant school community that supports every student’s success. Whether you can share a little time or a lot, your energy and ideas truly make a difference—building connections, funding enrichment, providing mutual aid, and supporting the educators and students who make Highland great. Stay in the loop and get involved by joining our mailing list and discovering ways to lend your talents, your voice, and your spirit, to help HPSH thrive. The PTSA runs on volunteer power—your commitment can be as big or small as you choose. Please fill out this form and someone will follow up with more details: https://forms.gle/bMeZdSaKiVVRviB9A. You may also reach out to the PTSA directly at: hpshptsa@gmail.com. Thank you!

Thank you for sharing any foam packaging you may have left over from food purchases this year with the Art Department. See Photos. We can Reuse these and similar foam in a variety of creative ways; paint trays, printing media, 3-D construction bases/armatures, and more.

Feel free to drop items (labeled for "art") in our main office or send them in with your student who can bring them to room 804 in the link. We can each do something each day to make our world better. Thank you for inspiring your students!

Warmest wishes and happy new school year,

The HPSH Art Department

1) Tuesday, September 15, from 7:00 – 8:00 p.m., (hybrid: via in-person & Zoom)

https://minnstate.zoom.us/j/93330961366; Meeting ID: 933 3096 1366

TOPIC: Quick hits

- Counseling

- Social Work

- Parent Portal & Schoology

- Clubs & Activities

- Athletics

- Site Council

2) Tuesday, November 10, from 7:00 – 8:00 p.m. via Zoom

https://minnstate.zoom.us/j/93949424557; Meeting ID: 939 4942 4557

TOPIC: International Baccalaureate (IB), Immersion Programs, PSEO

3) Tuesday, February 16, from 7 – 8 p.m. via Zoom

TOPIC: Career & College Readiness 101, HPSH CCRC Coordinator

https://minnstate.zoom.us/j/95932322733; Meeting ID: 959 3232 2733

4) *Tuesday, April 27, from 7 – 8 p.m. via Zoom

TOPIC: HPSH Budget Meeting

*This date is tentative and depends on the SPPS budget cycle.

https://minnstate.zoom.us/j/92137737938; Meeting ID: 921 3773 7938

5) Thursday, May 13, from 7 – 8 p.m. in-person (hybrid: in-person & Zoom)

TOPIC: Elections – PTSA & Site Council

https://minnstate.zoom.us/j/91524808965; Meeting ID: 915 2480 8965

Highland Park Senior High School once again made the U.S. News & World's Top High School. Congratulations to our students, staff and our supportive families. Please see the link to the article below for specifics. Scots Rock !

https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/minnesota/districts/st-paul-public-school-district/highland-park-senior-high-school-11116

Daily attendance is an important part of student success. If your student is ill, check SPPS’s illness guidelines at spps.org/studentwellness. Please notify us at 651-744-3803 or email highlandparksenior.attendance@spps.org as early as possible if your child will be absent.

You can now report student absences in advance through the Absence Request tool in Infinite Campus Parent. Review this step-by-step guide and video for instructions.

Communication between home and school is vital to a positive school experience. More information about consistent attendance can be found at spps.org/attendance.

• Student Second Breakfast: $3.50
• Student Second Lunch: $5.75
• Milk Only: $0.50
• For a complete list of prices, visit spps.org/ns.
  
  

Visit schoolcafe.com/spps to manage your student’s meal account, view menus, ingredients and nutritional information, and complete the Application for Educational Benefits.

Use Parent Portal and see your child’s attendance, homework assignments, grades and more. Log on to spps.org/onestop. This valuable tool will provide both information on your student and a means of communicating with your student’s teachers. Report cards are not mailed to homes.

For access, please contact the main office at 651-293-8940.

Parking permits will be distributed in a lottery system to seniors only. Lottery forms can be picked up in the main office on the first day of school. Lottery forms will be due to the office by Friday, September 11. A drawing will be held and students will be notified if they are awarded a parking spot. Spaces will be limited to 30 reserved parking spots and students may only park in the designated student parking spots and must display a parking permit. Any student vehicles parked in the lot without a permit during school hours will be towed at the owner's expense.

Safety is a top priority at our schools. Highland Park Senior High has an Emergency Operations Plan that is created specifically for our school and regularly reviewed. Families receive communication home when an incident directly impacts their students, such as a lockdown. Please review our Standard Response Protocol language, which differentiates safety situations. Exterior doors are always locked and all visitors must sign in.

Families, students and staff can “Send a Tip” at spps.org/safety to confidentially report unsafe behaviors to SPPS Security and Emergency Management. Every tip is taken seriously and investigated right away.

Website: https://www.spps.org/highlandsr
Location: 1015 Snelling Avenue South, Saint Paul, MN, USA
Phone: 651-293-8940