Thank you to everyone who shared feedback with us! After reviewing your input, we have updated the attendance tiers by separating absences from tardies/leaving early.
✅ Absence tiers remain the same.
✅ Tardy/Leaving Early tiers have changed:
At 5 tardies/leaving early → students will now receive a warning meeting/letter (but will not be placed on poor school standing).
At 10 tardies/leaving early → students will be placed on poor school standing.
We appreciate your feedback and support as we work together to make attendance expectations clear and fair for our students.
📚 The Elementary School has also adopted an attendance tier program—check it out!
💻 Mrs. Jessee's Algorithms and Programming Middle School students put their problem-solving and coding skills to work with Micro:bit and Finch block programming! Hands-on learning like this helps bring coding concepts to life and sparks curiosity about technology and innovation. ✨🤖
📸 Say Cheese, HCPS!
School Picture Day is almost here!
🗓️ October 8 – All grades PreK–11 & Sports
🗓️ October 16 – Seniors & Makeup Day
🇺🇸 Veterans Day Invitation 🇺🇸
November 11, 2025
We are honored to celebrate Veterans Day and would like to extend a special invitation to our local veterans. Following our school assembly, we welcome any veterans who are willing to visit classrooms, talk with students, and share their stories of service.
This is a wonderful opportunity for our students to ask questions, learn from your experiences, and gain a deeper appreciation for the sacrifices made in service to our country.
If you are interested in participating, please reach out to:
📧 Candace Lightner – crlightner@highland.k12.va.us
Thank you for your service, and we look forward to honoring you this Veterans Day. ❤️🤍💙
The Highland County Health Department will be offering the flu vaccine to all students and staff on Thursday, October 23, 2025.
✅ To sign up, please complete the form at this link: https://5il.co/3pyav
📅 Forms are due back to the school office no later than Monday, October 6th.
Printed copies are available in each school office if you need one.
To sign up, visit our Canvas website here: https://highlandk12.instructure.com/login/canvas
👉 Select “Parent of a Canvas User?” to create your account.
Need help getting started? Watch this quick how-to video for step-by-step directions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQQq4467BAk
Staying connected makes a big difference in supporting your child’s learning! 💙
✅ Screenings are required by the Virginia Department of Health for students in Kindergarten, 3rd grade, 7th grade, and 10th grade.
👀👂 These checks help ensure every child has the best opportunity to learn and participate fully in their education.
If you have any questions, please contact lleardi@highland.k12.va.us or call 540-468-6308.
The Greater Augusta Regional Chamber of Commerce Foundation is thrilled to announce an amazing opportunity for students in grades 6–8 to participate in the 2026 National Civics Bee—a nationwide, nonpartisan competition organized by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation. 🇺🇸✨
👉 Students are invited to submit a 4-paragraph essay proposing a solution to improve their community. Top-scoring essayists will advance to a live quiz competition in their state, where they’ll showcase their civics knowledge, writing, and public speaking skills.
🏆 Finalists can win prizes and recognition, and state winners may even secure a $5,000 donation for their school!
📅 The application portal is open now and will close on February 3, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. HST.
Don’t miss this chance to inspire the next generation of civic leaders!
Learn more and access resources here ➡️ https://www.augustava.com/newsandinformation/nationalcivicsbee
Highland County Community Members & Parents would like to invite students, parents, families, and community members to gather together for a special time of prayer for our School Board, teachers, staff, and students. 💙📚
📅 Date: Wednesday, September 24, 2025
📍 Location: Highland County Public Schools
⏰ Time: 7:30am
"Let’s unite as a community to lift up our school and show our support for the amazing people who make Highland great. ✨ Everyone is welcome!"
Highland County Public Schools has kicked off a new tradition—Tech-Free Tuesday—and it’s happening all year long! Each Tuesday, our students and staff set aside devices to focus on hands-on learning, creativity, and face-to-face connections. 💡📚✏️
We’re excited to keep building this tradition and seeing the great things that happen when we go screen-free—together!
Join us for our monthly meetings on the 4th Tuesday of each month at 7:00 PM in the Elementary Library.
🗓 Upcoming Dates:
Sept. 23
Oct. 28
Nov. 25
Dec. 23
Jan. 27
Your voice matters! Come connect, share ideas, and support our students and schools. 💙💛
It's easy to give back to our school while you shop!
🛒 How to Enroll:
1️⃣ Sign into your Kroger Plus account at kroger.com/account/communityrewards
2️⃣ Enter our school’s code: HV521
3️⃣ Link your account and start earning rewards for HES!
Every purchase you make helps support our students and school programs. Thank you for your support! 🙌✨
#HESCommunity #KrogerRewards #SupportOurSchool
📢 Attendance Matters at HCPS!
Highland High School & Middle School is excited to share two new ways we’re encouraging and rewarding strong attendance this school year:
✅ Attendance Tiers – Regular attendance is the key to success! Our new tiered system provides support and clear expectations to help high school & middle school students stay on track.
🎉 Attendance Raffle – To make it fun, high school and middle school students will earn raffle entries based on their attendance and grades. Prizes will be given out each quarter, and at the end of the year, one lucky student will win the Grand Prize: a Nintendo Switch + games! 🎮✨
Together, let’s make every day count—because RAMS = Regular Attendance Makes Success! 🐏💙
The Highland County Health Department will be offering the flu vaccine to all students and staff on Thursday, October 23, 2025.
✅ To sign up, please complete the form at this link: https://5il.co/3pyav
📅 Forms are due back to the school office no later than Monday, October 6th.
Printed copies are available in each school office if you need one.
🇺🇸✨ Calling All Veterans & Families! ✨🇺🇸
Highland County Public Schools is creating a special Veterans Day tribute video 🎥 to honor the brave men and women who have served our country. We need YOUR help to make it meaningful!
👉 Please send the following information:
Full Name
Military Branch 🪖
Years of Service ⏳
Any Deployments 🌍
Military Honors 🎖️
A photo 📸 to include beside their information
📧 Email all submissions to Katherine Springer, ITRT at kspringer@highland.k12.va.us.
🗓️ Deadline: November 7th (to allow time to create the video).
Let’s come together as a community to show our appreciation and honor our heroes this Veterans Day! ❤️💙
We’re excited to share that yearbooks are in and are currently being distributed.
A limited number of extra copies are available for purchase on a first-come, first-served basis. The cost is $44 each.
If you’d like to purchase a copy, please see Rain Hupman, rhupman@highland.k12.va.us.
