“The Highland Local School District is committed to the highest academic and behavioral expectations. Our mission is to guarantee that each learner reaches his/her potential by providing, in partnership with the community, a quality, progressive, educational program in a safe and dynamic life-long learning environment.”
-Highland Local School District Mission (re-adoption 2006)

What goes into a mission statement? For Highland, it meant assembling a committee of 25 people representing many constituencies- community members, teachers, students, and administrators to answer the question “What is it that we value in education?” To completely answer this question, we sought the involvement of 120 community members in the strategic planning process. As co-facilitator of this plan, I am excited and motivated by its educational initiatives.

In the strategic planning process, “critical issues” are defined as those areas which we have the opportunity to get far better or far worse. As the 2005-06 strategic plan has been adopted by the board of education, two critical issues that will have a profound effect on the high school are growth and curricular expansion.

We commenced the 2006-07 school year with 1005 students enrolled (963 students attending all day) with a building capacity of 1000 students. The original design of the building considered a plot to add an addition. As our enrollment would suggest, the time to consider such an addition is now. Current district enrollment projections have us reaching over 4000 students district-wide by 2010 (When I began my career in Highland in 1993, we had 2000 students district-wide.) Providing a “progressive” education for our increasing population will be a challenge for us now and in the future.

With this ever-increasing enrollment, it becomes necessary to add additional sections of classes to keep up with the basic curricular needs of our students. The strategic plan will have us increasing course offerings to give our students the opportunity to be propelled into “the challenges of the highest academic pursuits”. Again, the “highest academic pursuits” do not occur before the basic curricular needs of our expanding student population are met.

I look forward to working with the high school staff and community to see that the initiatives of the strategic plan are accomplished. However, we cannot become the Highland High School envisioned by that plan without your support. The Akron Beacon Journal recently touted a new housing development in the “highly coveted” Highland Local School District. I agree that Highland has become “highly coveted”. I am proud to work in a community that values education. I am encouraged about the future of our high school and look forward to working with your children.

Daryl Kubilus Jr.