Gi?i b?n cáSeveral Highland Middle School students recently entered and placed in the annual Patriot’s Pen essay contest, open to students in grades 6-8. Conducted nationwide, the VFW-sponsored youth essay competition gives students an opportunity to write essays expressing their views on an annual patriotic theme. The 2020-21 theme was “What is Patriotism to Me?” More than 138,000 students participated in last year’s contest, where national winners received at least $500 with a grand prize award of $5,000.

• Kalli Makris, 7th grader, captured 1st place in the annual Strongsville VFW Post Patriot’s Pen. She is the daughter of Louie and Koula Makris of Hinckley Township.
• 8th graders Meghan Mino (1st place), Andrew Bryan (2nd place) and Kennedy Morgan (3rd place) claimed the top three spots in the Medina VFW Post Patriot’s Pen. Meghan is the daughter of Larry and Erin Mino of Sharon Township; Andrew is the son of Eric and Leah Bryan of Granger Township, and Kennedy is the daughter of Grant and Terri Morgan of Granger Township.

Each winner will receive an award check and certificate of appreciation. First place winning essays will advance to the District level competition. Congratulations!

The Highland School District will offer lunches at NO COST to Highland students who are currently learning at home due to the shift from In-Person Learning to Home Distance Learning. (Those currently enrolled in the Virtual Learning Academy have a separate form, located on the district website). This service is offered in conjunction with the USDA free lunch program and students do not have to be eligible for free and reduced lunch status to qualify. 

Families with students enrolled in the Highland Schools can receive a WEEKLY allotment of their child's school lunches. The district will offer school lunch meal “pick-up” on a weekly distribution until In-Person Learning (Hybrid Schedule) resumes on January 19.

Beginning Monday, December 14, lunches will be distributed to families for the entire week. Each lunch bag will contain 5 complete lunches. Baking instructions can be downloaded HERE or on the district website under departments/foodservice. (Please note, we will not be serving lunches on weekends, scheduled holidays or holiday breaks).

Dear Highland Middle Parents and Guardians,
As you are aware, the district will move to remote learning beginning Monday, December 7. We will function under the following daily schedule: 

Gi?i b?n cáPlease note that students are expected to attend all Zoom lessons and meetings, as scheduled. These will be live lessons using the zoom platform and other instructional methods that will provide daily contact and communication between our teachers and students. The district has built in additional support time so that teachers will be able to meet with small groups of students or one-on-one with students, as needed. Pre-recorded videos may also be used in addition to daily in-person lessons and contact with students. The Google classroom will be the landing page for all classroom information. 

Student attendance will be entered into PowerSchool each day. If your student is ill, please call the attendance line and leave a message. 

• Chromebooks: All students who were in school on Friday with a completed Chromebook Agreement Form were provided a Chromebook before leaving. If your child still needs a Chromebook, instrument, textbook, art kit, or something else, you may come to HMS between 7:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. any day next week.

Dear Highland Parents,

As we prepare to transition to remote learning on Monday, December 7, I want to provide additional information as a follow-up to yesterday’s message. As communicated in August, we expected there could be times when we would need to transition between learning models. While our goal remains to offer in-person learning for the remainder of the year, we also need to ensure that we are doing that in the safest manner possible, using the latest information available to us.    

Over the past three weeks, 28 new positive cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed, requiring 467 students and staff to be quarantined during that same time period.

Gi?i b?n cáDear Highland Parents,

We were informed today, December 3, that Medina County has moved to a Level 4, COVID County Alert Level of “Purple.” According to the Ohio Department of Health, Level 4 indicates “severe exposure and spread” in the overall community. 

While our school district has continued to safely offer in-person learning to our students to this point, the time has come to temporarily “push pause” on in-person learning for the next several weeks. During that time, it is our hope that case numbers and other key indicators in the county will begin to substantially trend downward. 

Gi?i b?n cáAs a result of the public health announcement today, the district will be moving to the following learning schedules:

Remote Learning
Effective Monday, December 7, 2020 through January 15, 2021

Hybrid Learning
January 19 – 22, 2021

Return to In-Person Learning
Gi?i b?n cá January 25, 2021

We will finish this week (Friday, December 4) with all students in-person and will work tomorrow to make the transition into remote learning (including distribution of chromebooks) as smooth as possible. More information will follow. 

We will continue to monitor and assess this situation in collaboration with public health officials. As always, we appreciate your continued support during this unprecedented public health emergency.

Catherine Aukerman, Superintendent

Gi?i b?n cáThe Highland School District will offer lunches at NO COST to ANY Highland students enrolled in the Virtual Learning Academy. This service is offered in conjunction with the USDA free lunch program through the end of the 2020-21 academic year. You do not have to be eligible for free and reduced lunch status to qualify. 

Gi?i b?n cáThe district will offer school lunch meal “pick-up” on a weekly distribution. Families with students enrolled in the Highland VLA can receive a WEEKLY allotment of their child's school lunches. 

Beginning Monday, September 28 through June 14, 2021 (end of the USDA free lunch program), lunches will be distributed to families for the entire week. Each lunch bag will contain 5 complete lunches. Baking instructions can be downloaded HERE or on the district website under departments/foodservice.Gi?i b?n cá (Please note, we will not be serving lunches on weekends, scheduled holidays or holiday breaks).