• PTO info
• ILEARN dates/times
• Open Enrollment
• Intent to Return
• Message from the Cafe
• Fun Fair
• Fishing Club
• Math Bowl
• April Gratitude Calendar
• Library Information
• After school events
• Riding the Bus Home with a Friend
• Libby App
• Extra Curricular Info
• Arrival and Dismissal
• Meals

Monday, April 21st-NO SCHOOL

Tuesday, April 22nd-Fishing Club 2:20-3:20pm

Wednesday, April 23rd-PTO Basket Wrapping 2:30-3:30pm

Friday, April 25th-Fun Fair @ 6-8pm

ILEARN for 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade is April 14th-May 9th (see schedule below)

APRIL:

23- Basket wrapping 2:30pm

25- Fun Fair

The cafeteria team is asking the students to bring a picture of themselves with their pet. They want to cover the walls with the students and their "best friends"!

• For the time being, RDS is only accessible from the hours of 4PM to 6AM.

• Please use the link on the School Town of Highland website as it has the most current IP address. It is a tab at the top of the page that says RDS Parent Access. https://www.highland.k12.in.us/

• Any other questions or concerns, please contact the school.

Open Enrollment for incoming Kindergarten and 1st graders will open April 14th and end May 2nd at 1pm. More information is here:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1z2AjnHrlJNNLgRkfP8KTD53b4c2Bz0dTFkGij8gDspo/preview?tab=t.0

Dear Highland Parents and Students,

We are happy to announce that 200 trees are to be planted along the Little Calumet River, beginning at the bike trail at Highland Rookery (located at the north end of Liable Road) on Arbor Day, Friday, April 25th. These trees (Shagbark Hickory and American Plum) will help clean our air, store and filter water and provide habitat for birds and other wildlife.

You are graciously invited to attend an Arbor Day Proclamation at 4:00 p.m. by Town Council President George Georgeff at the Rookery parking lot and then help mulch the new trees. We ask to you help us care for these new trees by carefully spreading mulch beneath them. Please bring your own shovels, buckets and gardening trowels.

Thank you for joining us in celebrating and increasing the tree canopy of Highland!

Sincerely,

The Highland Tree Board

Highland Neighbors for Sustainability

In order to prepare for the upcoming year, the School Town of Highland must assess your student enrollment for the 2025-2026 school year. This information is being requested as part of the Spring Registration Process and to assist in determining those students who may be affected by the transfer procedures as discussed in Highland Elementary School Parent/Student Handbook and School Town of Highland Elementary Transfer Procedures Brochure.

By signing up now, your child’s attendance slot can be secured for fall attendance. Those families not signing up at this time will not secure their child’s current attendance slot for next school year. Transfer decisions are based upon a secured registration. The parental sign-up of their child (children), is considered a secured registration. Students who are currently on free and reduced lunch will need to fill out new forms for next school year per federal law.

Please complete the online survey, fill in your child’s name, and your response will be collected when you hit the submit button at the end. If your proofs of Highland residency are not up to date at your school's office, you will need to submit updated ones to keep your spot secure. The schools will begin accepting this spring registration form starting April 11, 2025 and the process will end on May 2, 2025. Registration after May 2, 2025 will not be considered as secured for transfer purposes. Contact your local elementary school with any questions. Thank you for your assistance.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdC_Kl_-FAMIDUiZQd57lSRqkaCJjDWxER5Pr-dUn_Yz1zNQw/viewform?usp=header

Candy Contest Alert! Get ready for a sweet challenge! Johnston PTO is hosting a ONE DAY ONLY candy donation event on THIS Friday, April 11th. Bring in your candy, and the class that collects the most by weight will win a special prize!

If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to Sonya Castillo at scastillo1118@gmail.com. We can’t wait to see which class brings in the most candy!

Let’s GLOW CRAZY at This Year’s Annual Fun Fair!

Get ready for an unforgettable night at the Johnston PTO’s Annual Fun Fair on Friday, April 25th from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM! We’ve got an exciting evening planned with games, attractions, raffle baskets, and concessions that are sure to make this the best Fun Fair yet!

Our attractions will include:

• Balloontacular’s Face Painting

• DJ Carlos Feliciano’s GLOW PARTY

• Neon Blooms Pot-a-Plant

• Cake Walk

• Bounce House/Obstacle Course

And that’s just the start! We’ll have more games, tasty concessions, and the most exciting raffle baskets ever! This year, in addition to our grade-level themed baskets, we’re thrilled to offer amazing business-sponsored baskets for both kids and adults. Some of our incredible sponsors include:

• Sky Zone

• DBat

• Urban Air

• Ninja Kidz

• Up Your Alley

• Cooper’s Hawk

• Easy Clean Car Wash

• Theo’s Steak & Seafood

• Biggby Coffee

• Angotti Grazing

• Three Floyds Brewery

• Fuzzyline Brewing

• Albanese
  ...and MORE!

Volunteers Needed for Our Fun Fair!

Our Fun Fair is coming soon, and we need your help to make it a success! Please click the Sign-Up Genius link below to view available shifts and sign up.

https://m.signupgenius.com/#!/showSignUp/10C054CA8AD2FA0FCC52-55974852-funfair

These events wouldn’t be possible without volunteers like you. Thank you for your support!

Don’t miss out on all the fun—mark your calendars and we’ll see you there!

Attention Johnston Families!

The Fun Fair is quickly approaching, and we need YOUR help to make it a success!

Each grade level has been assigned a unique theme for their raffle basket, and we’re counting on your donations to make these baskets extra special! You can contribute by donating items that fit your grade level’s theme. You may also make a monetary donation, and the funds will be used to purchase items for the basket.

️Items will be DUE to teachers by Thursday, April 17th.️

Each basket will be raffled off, so let’s make them the best they can be!

We’re excited to see the creative baskets each grade level comes up with! Thank you for your support!

4th-Nappi

Owen Kiest

Victoria Gamboa

4th Bailey

Sarah Pottorf

Laureles Rogers

Sophia Schoon

Annabella Cheffer

Lincoln Kime

Miles Kozak

Oliver Dahlke

Evan Poteete

5th-De Leon

Thomas Szczur

Spencer Peters

Ben Kime

5th Lesich

Therese Nieland

Media Ducret

Chris St. Michael

Dominic Tallarico

Ryan Kurek

Brayden Steele

Evie VanBodegraven

5th-Rausei

Hunter Zimmer

Hi families, please don't forget to check your MealTime balance for your students' accounts weekly. Payments can be submitted in person to your school's office or kitchen manager in the form of cash/check. Payments can also be made online via www.MyMealtime.com, and conveniently via the My Mealtime app in the Google and Apple app stores. You will need your student's ID number to register online/in the app. There is a small service charge to make payments online/app. Don't forget, you can submit a meal application at any time during the year. Paper applications are in the main office, and online applications are also on www.MyMealtime.com. Thank you for your contribution to tackling school meal debt.

Children under the age of 5 in LCPL school districts are eligible to receive a free book every month from Dolly Parton's Imagination Library! The books are theirs to keep forever.

The LCPL Foundation has provided the seed money for this program and pledged annual support so that we can bring books into as many kids' homes as possible.

You can pick up an application at any LCPL location or print one and mail it in. Start building your child's library today!

All students will be given digital access to our Lake County Library on their I-Pads via an app called Libby. This app allows the students to check out and read books at their convenience. If you do not want your child to have access to this, please email lbastaic@highland.k12.in.us, and Mrs. Bastaic will ensure they do not get a digital library card. Thank you!

If your child is riding the bus home with a friend, you need to send in a note with your child's name, the date, and who your child will be riding home with. The principal will need to sign off on those each time.

For their own safety and the safety of our community, pre-high school students can attend STOH events ONLY if accompanied by a paying parent or adult chaperone. The parent/chaperone will be responsible for the supervision of the student(s) throughout the duration of the event. All students may be required to show proper STOH identification at the ticketing window prior to entering STOH events. STOH reserves the right to deny entry to any individual 18 and under who cannot provide proper identification and demonstrate they are of high school age.

Here is a link to the full policy.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vTkKU2kYoUp_qq5Vb-W4oyCnJVxYHAgfKLmILeiLfmdS5_AQf9LtJwWM9zgmIhIsfSuRv7CaeZGpvHV/pub

We are gearing up for an exciting week of all-new STEM fun this summer at Camp Invention! Register today for camp at Merkley and save $15 with code SUM15 by 5/15.

Only those that are eating breakfast can come in to the cafe at 7:20am. All other students can enter the building starting at 7:35am.

Breakfast is $1.50

Lunch is $2.00

You can find both menus here: https://www.schoolnutritionandfitness.com/index.php?sid=2809100435083594&page=menus

• • Doors open for students at 7:35 a.m. daily. Students who eat breakfast at school will be allowed entry beginning at 7:20 a.m. Anyone arriving after 7:50 a.m. will need to buzz and come into the main office to sign in.

  • Cars will enter the parking lot off Duluth Street (right turn only) and follow the curve to drop off students. Please pull up as far as you can and drop all your students off at one time. Have your children ready with their backpacks, lunch money, hugs, and kisses, so that when you stop they may exit the car quickly, and we can keep the drop-off line moving. The line can become backed up onto Duluth Street very quickly which causes safety issues for our parents, as well as other drivers.

  • Please drop off curbside only. Avoid dropping children off where they have to cross the street, this is extremely dangerous. It will be your responsibility to cross them if you choose to do this.

  • Please be mindful of other drivers and walkers. We know many of you have to get to work, and we want all children to be able to enter the building safely and on time.

  • 1st, 2nd, and 5th grade should be dropped off at Door C.

  • Kindergarten, 3rd, and 4th grade should be dropped off at Door B.

  • 5th graders and Lifeskills class will use Door G.

At the end of the school day, the following doors will be used for dismissal:

• Grade K will exit through door J (FIVE minutes before the rest of the grade levels)

• Grade 1 will exit through door C (main doors)

• Grade 2 will exit through door B

• Grade 3 will exit through door J

• Grade 4 will exit through door I

• Grade 5 and Lifeskills class will exit through door G

• Bus riders will exit through door J (a few minutes prior to the remainder of the school being dismissed where the buses will be waiting).

Cars may enter the parking lot off Duluth Street and follow the curve to pick up or park in the parking lot to walk up to get students.

PLEASE DO NOT PARK IN THE BUS LANE ON GRAND STREET.

We would like to thank you in advance for your cooperation as we strive to keep our Johnston families safe.

Please don't hesitate to contact us in the office for any ideas, thoughts, concerns, or words of encouragement! We are all part of this large extended mix of wonderful people we affectionately refer to as our Johnston Family.

Email: aharring@highland.k12.in.us
Website: https://www.highland.k12.in.us/o/jes
Location: 8220 5th Street, Highland, IN, United States
Phone: 219.923.2428
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Johnston-Elementary-School/61563407999318/
Twitter: @johnston_stoh

Instagram: @johnston_STOH

TikTok: @Johnston_STOH