11/1-11/7/26 Family Highlights

Family Edition

Week of: November 1 - November 7, 2026

📢Announcements

📮Weekly Recap

What a busy and exciting week at Highlands School! Here is a look at what our students and staff have been up to:

Fall Festival Success: A huge thank you to everyone who helped make our annual Fall Festival such a success! The money raised directly benefits our teachers and students.
Spook Parade: Our K–5 students showed off their creative costumes during our annual Spook Parade, marching by to the delight of our middle/high school students and parents!
Clubs & Activities: Middle and High School InWord (our Christian student group) held their weekly meetings. Meanwhile, the Elementary Theater Club continues hard at work rehearsing for their upcoming production of Finding Nemo!
Student Leadership: High School SGA met this week to start planning for Spirit Week and Homecoming festivities—be on the lookout for more info coming soon!
Staff Transitions: We said a fond goodbye and wished good luck to Mr. Hansell on his retirement.
Athletics Highlights: Middle School Basketball kicked off their season with a road trip to Rosman, while High School Boys Soccer wrapped up their regular season with Senior Night—thank you to the crowd who turned out to support our Highlanders!
Community Town Hall: Thank you to everyone who attended our recent Town Hall to discuss the Highlands School soccer field and our plans for the future.
Professional Development: Mr. Schenk, Mrs. Bears, and Mrs. DeBois attended professional learning focused on the newly adopted ELA standards to help guide and support our teachers during this transition.
Senior Seminar: Our seniors attended Thrive 101, a interactive seminar focused on how to thrive in a post-high school world. They were joined by seniors from Summit and Blue Ridge for a great day of learning and networking!
Elementary Field Trip: Kindergarten and 1st-grade students had a fantastic day full of fun and learning on their field trip to Darnell Farms!

🍗🍽️Thanksgiving Meal

Thanksgiving lunch is coming up, and our cafeteria staff need to plan accordingly. If you plan to join your child for lunch at Highlands School, please prepay for your meal. Thanksgiving lunch will be $10 per plate.

Please bring your payment to the front office, where Ms. Deb will collect it and provide you with a voucher and receipt. You may also send payment in an envelope with your student to give to their teacher. Please make sure you receive your voucher and bring it with you on Wednesday, November 18.

Meals must be prepaid by Thursday, November 12. Because we need to order food and prepare meals for 360 students and their guests, we cannot guarantee a meal for anyone who has not prepaid.

We hope you’ll join us and enjoy a delicious Thanksgiving dinner prepared by our wonderful cafeteria staff! If you have any questions, please contact the front office.

🎭Theater Update

There is no rehearsal the next two weeks due to the middle school production of "The Little Mermaid Jr" getting ready for their performances. We'll see everyone again starting the week of November 16th!

🍎Upcoming: No School

Tuesday, November 10, is a teacher workday, so there will be no school for students.

Wednesday, November 11, is the Veterans Day holiday, and school will also be closed.

🎁Operation Christmas

Highlands High School FCA is participating in Operation Christmas Child. Any high school student who wants to fill a shoebox with gifts for either a boy or a girl may pick up a shoebox in Mrs. Westbrook's classroom.

Want to know what to put in shoeboxes?

Personal care items, toys, arts and crafts, a "wow" item, school supplies, clothing & accessories.

Lists in the past included: crayons, activity pad, brush, plush animal, fun watch, puzzles, jump rope, yo-yo, hair accessories, flashlight, hat, etc.

Don't include the items below:

Soap
Food, candy, or gum
Toothpaste
Used or damaged items
Scary or war-related items
Wearable traditional camouflage
Seeds or organic matter
Liquids
Medication
Money
Breakable items
Matches, fire starters, or aerosols
Knife, saw, or razor blades
Alcohol wipes

🩸Blood Drive

The next blood drive will be on January 13th. Any student, 16 and older, that would like to donate needs to see Mrs. Billingsley to sign up.

The next blood drive will be on January 13th. Anyone that would like to donate can sign up at the link below OR send me a message and I can sign you up.

https://www.redcrossblood.org/give.html/drive-results?zipSponsor=highlandsschool

Thank you,