Highland Middle School teaches 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 Jefferson County Public Schools, the largest school district in Kentucky.ProgramsFrom 1989 onward, Highland has offered a magnet program in international studies, initially with the assistance of a Federal grant. Highland also offered a Spanish immersion program in the mid-1990s.HistoryHighland was founded in February 1928 and has operated continually on the same location. Jackie Robinson 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, 9200sqft addition fronting Richmond Drive was completed. The wing contains a science lab, band room, chorus room and classrooms.
