Highland Middle School (Louisville, Kentucky)
Encyclopedia
Highland Middle School is a free public middle school
, with grades 6-8, in the Highlands
section of Louisville, Kentucky
, for which it is named. It is in the Deer Park
neighborhood and adjacent to Bellarmine University
. Highland is part of a Jefferson County Public Schools
, the largest school district in Kentucky
.
, initially with the assistance of a Federal
grant. Highland also offered a Spanish
immersion program in the mid-1990s.
spoke at the school in 1955.
The three-story building faces Norris Place to the east and Richmond Drive to the south. To the north is a two block long field used for recreation. A driveway on the school grounds runs on the edge of the field between it and Norris Place, which is used for parking and school bus staging purposes. The drive was enlarged and first paved in 1933, replacing an earlier cinder path that proved useless after rains.
The initial building was intended for 500 students, and by the 1960s the building had become overcrowded and dilapidated. In 1964 a new wing was built, adding 9 classrooms, an expanded library, a kitchen, two shops and a teachers lounge as well as a new entrance. In 1996 a $1.5 million, 9200 square feet (854.7 m²) addition fronting Richmond Drive was completed. The wing contains a science lab, band room, chorus room and classrooms.
A newspaper, the Highland Echo, published its first edition in November 1937.
The school has a fight song set to the tune of the Washington and Lee Swing
. It was long forgotten until 1990 when an alumnus sponsored a contest for the students to learn the lyrics, which had to be updated by the school's chorus teacher, as the school's name had changed from Highland Junior High since the last time the song had been sung.
(2005) (starring Orlando Bloom and Kirsten Dunst). It was perceived as Elizabethtown High School. It was in the scene where Drew (Bloom) was talking on his cellular phone to his mother, in the middle of the grass field, with kids playing in the background.
Middle school
Middle School and Junior High School are levels of schooling between elementary and high schools. Most school systems use one term or the other, not both. The terms are not interchangeable...
, with grades 6-8, in the Highlands
The Highlands (Louisville)
The Highlands is an area of Louisville, Kentucky which contains a high density of nightclubs, eclectic businesses, and many upscale and fast food restaurants. It is centered along a three-mile stretch of Bardstown Road and Baxter Avenue and is so named because it sits atop a ridge between the...
section of Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
, for which it is named. It is in the Deer Park
Deer Park, Louisville
Deer Park is a neighborhood four miles southeast of downtown Louisville, Kentucky, USA. Most of the neighborhood was developed from 1890 through the 1920s as a streetcar suburb, with all but six of its 24 subdivisions being developed by 1917, and the last laid out by 1935, although some development...
neighborhood and adjacent to Bellarmine University
Bellarmine University
Bellarmine University is an independent, private, Catholic university in Louisville, Kentucky. The liberal arts institution opened on October 3, 1950, as Bellarmine College, established by Archbishop John A. Floersh of the Archdiocese of Louisville and named after the Cardinal Saint Robert...
. Highland is part of a Jefferson County Public Schools
Jefferson County Public Schools (Kentucky)
Jefferson County Public Schools is a public school district located in Jefferson County, Kentucky and operating all but one of the public schools in the county...
, the largest school district in Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
.
Programs
From 1989 onward, Highland has offered a magnet program in international studiesInternational studies
International Studies generally refers to the specific University Degrees and courses which are concerned with the study of ‘the major political, economic, social, cultural and sacral issues that dominate the international agenda’...
, initially with the assistance of a Federal
Federal government of the United States
The federal government of the United States is the national government of the constitutional republic of fifty states that is the United States of America. The federal government comprises three distinct branches of government: a legislative, an executive and a judiciary. These branches and...
grant. Highland also offered a Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
immersion program in the mid-1990s.
History
Highland was founded in February 1928 and has operated continually on the same location. Jackie RobinsonJackie Robinson
Jack Roosevelt "Jackie" Robinson was the first black Major League Baseball player of the modern era. Robinson broke the baseball color line when he debuted with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947...
spoke at the school in 1955.
The three-story building faces Norris Place to the east and Richmond Drive to the south. To the north is a two block long field used for recreation. A driveway on the school grounds runs on the edge of the field between it and Norris Place, which is used for parking and school bus staging purposes. The drive was enlarged and first paved in 1933, replacing an earlier cinder path that proved useless after rains.
The initial building was intended for 500 students, and by the 1960s the building had become overcrowded and dilapidated. In 1964 a new wing was built, adding 9 classrooms, an expanded library, a kitchen, two shops and a teachers lounge as well as a new entrance. In 1996 a $1.5 million, 9200 square feet (854.7 m²) addition fronting Richmond Drive was completed. The wing contains a science lab, band room, chorus room and classrooms.
A newspaper, the Highland Echo, published its first edition in November 1937.
The school has a fight song set to the tune of the Washington and Lee Swing
Washington and Lee Swing
Washington and Lee Swing is the official fight song of Washington & Lee University. Before it morphed into a swing, Dixieland and bluegrass standard, "The Washington and Lee Swing" was one of the most well known — and widely borrowed — football marches ever written, according to Robert...
. It was long forgotten until 1990 when an alumnus sponsored a contest for the students to learn the lyrics, which had to be updated by the school's chorus teacher, as the school's name had changed from Highland Junior High since the last time the song had been sung.
Media
Highland Middle School had a scene in the movie Elizabethtown (film)Elizabethtown (film)
Elizabethtown is a 2005 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Cameron Crowe starring Orlando Bloom and Kirsten Dunst. Alec Baldwin has a small role as a CEO of an athletic shoe company and Susan Sarandon appears as a grieving widow...
(2005) (starring Orlando Bloom and Kirsten Dunst). It was perceived as Elizabethtown High School. It was in the scene where Drew (Bloom) was talking on his cellular phone to his mother, in the middle of the grass field, with kids playing in the background.
Notable alumni
- Hunter S. ThompsonHunter S. ThompsonHunter Stockton Thompson was an American journalist and author who wrote The Rum Diary , Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72 .He is credited as the creator of Gonzo journalism, a style of reporting where reporters involve themselves in the action to...
, writer - Benjamin M. FriedmanBenjamin M. FriedmanBenjamin Morton Friedman, a leading American political economist, is the William Joseph Maier Professor of Political Economy at Harvard University. Friedman is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Brookings Institute's Panel on Economic Activity, and the editorial board of the...
, economist - Fred CowanFred CowanFred Cowan is a Kentucky politician. He currently serves as a Kentucky Circuit Judge of the 30th judicial district in Louisville. He is a former Kentucky Attorney General and former member of the Kentucky State House of Representatives for the 32nd district...
, Kentucky Attorney General
Principals
- Steven Heckman. 2004–present.
- Holly Nolan. 1997-2004.
- Robert Knight. 1991-1997.
- Ron Crutcher. ?-1991.
- Terry Brooks early-mid 80s
- Robert Sanders. 1947-1961.
- Samuel Noe. 1946-1947.
- Eva T. Mason. 1928-1946.