School is starting again and Highland Elementary School is preparing for new and returning students.
Chris Trostad, principal at Highland School, says the school is ready and parents can still register their children. “If there are parents who have not yet registered their children for Highland School, as existing students here at Highland School, they can simply log into Skyward and update their information,” Trostad said. “If you are a new student, we need to make sure you fill out the registration paperwork, which you can get from Crystal or Jana here in the office, so fill out the paperwork as soon as possible.”
Trostad said they have been preparing all summer: “There is a six million dollar addition that was originally going to house the preschool, but this year it will house the kindergarten.”
Trostad added that there will be some changes to the stopping zone in the morning. “We have a longer stopping zone with a sort of new two-lane entrance, which will be really nice,” Trostad said. “Basically, parents will no longer be dropping off their kids in the teacher parking lot like they used to, but they will have their own entrance and a bypass lane.” The new stopping plan means there will be fewer cars on the street and a longer stopping area available.
The after-school pickup routine has also been changed this year. “We will ask parents to wait until the buses have left. Then they can park next to the tennis courts or next to the baseball field on Barrett Street,” Trostad said. “Once they see the buses leaving Highland School, they can pull into the teacher parking lot, which is also this long driveway. They will pull in, drive around the new addition and come out in front of the school. This year, all students will be picked up in front of Highland School instead of on the side.”
The school will inform parents and guardians of the changes. “We will communicate this to parents via Instant Alert and on Facebook, so parents will be bombarded with the new changes at pick-up and drop-off,” says Principal Trostad.
Another addition is being added to the Highland School grounds and you could feel the excitement as Principal Trostad began talking about the new playground that will soon be built. “Really exciting news, our new playground, we call it the all-inclusive playground where all kids can play,” Trostad said. “We needed an age-appropriate playground for preschoolers, kindergarteners and first and second graders because our playground was really designed more for middle school age kids.” There was no doubt that the school wanted the playground to be available and accessible to all children, including those with special needs. “We wanted to make sure it was all-inclusive so that kids with special needs could play right next to all students so everyone could be together.”
We will provide you with more information about back to school in Crookston as we countdown to the first day, which for Highland Elementary falls on Wednesday, September 4th.
