Highland High School is located in Palmdale, California and is part of the Antelope Valley Union High School District. About 4,000 students attend Highland High School in grades 9 through 12. It received a California Distinguished School award in 2005.Highland High School was founded in 1989 in response to Palmdale's rapid population growth. Palmdale High School was not large enough to serve the children of the new families moving into the Antelope Valley. Highland High School is now the largest high school under the Antelope Valley Union High School District. The school has seen a rapid increase in the number of students each year as the area around Highland becomes more developed. The school also attracts students outside of its own district as one of the two schools in the area (the other being Quartz Hill High School) to offer the International Baccalaureate program.The Highland HS principal announced on January 23, 2013 that the IB program would be phased out at Highland HS. Future students would be able to take two years of pre-IB at Highland but would have to transfer to Quartz Hill HS to complete their diploma. Quartz Hill HS is an impacted high school and transfer students would have to go through open enrollment.DemographicsThe demographic breakdown of the 3,032 students enrolled in 2013-14 was: Male - 51.1%Female - 48.9%Native American/Alaskan - 1.1%Asian/Pacific islanders - 5.9%Black - 16.0%Hispanic - 55.1%White - 19.1%Multiracial - 2.8% 53.9% of the students were eligible for free or reduced lunch.
