Highlands Headlines 10.10

Posted Date: 10/10/25 (4:16 PM)

Highlands Headlines

October 10, 2025

Huskies LEAD the way! EVERYDAY!

Hello Husky Families,

As we continue to prioritize the safety and efficiency of our afternoon dismissal process, we kindly ask for your support in ensuring car tags are clearly visible at all times during pickup.

While many of our staff members recognize familiar faces and vehicles, visible car tags help us quickly and accurately identify students, ensuring a smooth and secure dismissal for everyone.

Why It Matters:

Safety: Proper identification helps us ensure students are released to the correct guardians.
Efficiency: Visible tags help keep the line moving and reduce wait times.
Support for Staff: Your cooperation helps our new team members learn, find/identify cars and safely get students to their vehicle in a timely manner.

Tips for Displaying Your Car Tag:

Hang it from your rearview mirror or place it on your dashboard.
Make sure it’s easy to read from a distance.
If you need a replacement tag, please contact the front office.
We will not release students to vehicles that do not have a tag. Those indivduals will need to come in, in order to get a car tag and must be on the students emergency card, while also present government issued identification.

Thank you for helping us keep our dismissal process safe, smooth, and student-centered!

Thank you for your continued support!

Warm regards,

Jodi Gonzalez and Robert Adamowicz

Proud Principal and Assistant Principal of Highlands Elementary

Reminder: NO SCHOOL on Monday 10/13

Sock Drive!

Third Grade is collecting new socks of all sizes for a local shelter.

Please bring any donations to the box located in the front office by October 31st.

Upcoming Events - Save the Dates!

October 14 - 4Rivers Spirit Night
October 17 - Report Cards Go Home
October 20-24 - Book Fair Week
October 22 - PTA Trunk or Treat & BOOk Fair
October 27-31 - Red Ribbon Week
October 31 - Character Dress Up Day
November 5 - SAC Meeting @ 4:15PM
November 7 - Fall Picture Make-Ups
November 11 - Veteran's Day
November 18 - American Education Week
November 18 - Teach In
November 24 - Thanksgiving Break (NO SCHOOL ALL WEEK)

We need your Voice! Leader in Me Survey

We are excited to invite you to participate in our Leader in Me Parent Survey! Your feedback plays a vital role in helping us grow as a school community and continue fostering leadership, a positive culture, and academic excellence for all students.

The survey focuses on three key areas:

Leadership

Personal Effectiveness
Interpersonal Effectiveness

Culture

Staff Voice
Collective Efficacy

Academics

Instructional Efficacy
Student-led Practices

Your perspective as a parent is incredibly valuable. The survey will help us better understand how we can continue to support our students and families through the Leader in Me framework.

Please take a few moments to complete the survey by 10/17. You can access it here: https://www.leaderinme.com/s/highlands-elem-fl/families

Thank you for being a vital part of our school’s journey toward greatness!

What's our Wildy Important Goal This Year?

What is a WIG?

A WIG stands for Wildly Important Goal — it's a super special goal that everyone in the school works on together. Think of it like a big team mission!

This year, our WIG is to earn 5,000 Accelerated Reader (AR) points by reading books and taking fun quizzes that check how well we understood the story — like who the characters are, where the story takes place, and what happened. For every book that is read and quiz that is passed, students will earn points for the whole school!

How Do We Reach Our Goal?

Every time a student reads a book and takes an AR quiz, they earn points. Those points help us move closer to our WIG! It’s like we’re flying through space, passing planets, and heading toward our final destination — Pluto at 5,000 points by May 2026!

Celebrations Along the Way

To keep things exciting, we celebrate our progress with fun school-wide events!

So far we’ve had:

🧦 Silly Sock Day
🎩 Hat Day
🍧 Ice Pops for Everyone

Upcoming Celebrations:

Popcorn
Pajama Day
Space Tattoos (temporary of course)

These celebrations are like little parties to cheer us on as we read more and more!

Leaders are Readers!

By working toward our WIG, students become leaders and readers — and that helps them do better on important tests like FAST and STAR. It’s all about growing our brains and having fun while we do it!

Leader In Me - Table Talk

Family Engagement with Leader in Me!

We have focused on the Habit: Be Proactive in September. We invite you and your family to practice this Habit at home.

To participate in the Be Proactive "Table Talk" topic, you would have your family discuss: How can you be proactive at home or at school?

Did you participate in our Table Talk? Let us know by clicking HERE!

Table Talk Response Form

Great American Teach-In on November 18th

Parents, community members, and friends of Highlands Elementary School, make plans now to be a part of Teach-In on Tuesday, November 18. We are looking for community leaders to teach at least one class in this community-wide effort. What does it mean to “Teach for a Day”? SCPS invites you to teach our students through life experiences and opening doors! Share about your job, travel and cultural experiences, or a hobby.

Teach-In is a perfect opportunity for parents, business leaders and community members to let students know we care about them. It is simple – join us on Tuesday, November 18 and teach a class or two – whatever your schedule permits.

Teach-In highlights the importance of bringing together teachers, school staff, parents, students, and communities in a unified effort to build great public schools. We will do our part by giving you some suggestions to prepare you for this experience with an informative Teach-In Speaker Guide. Simply register for Teach-In 2025 (LINK HERE). You will not regret your decision to be a volunteer teacher during Teach-In 2025. We cannot wait to hear from you!

Order your Yearbook Today!

We’re excited to announce that yearbooks for the 2025 school year are now on sale — and it’s the perfect time to buy! Take advantage of our early bird discount and purchase your child’s yearbook for just $20. This special price is available until December 21. After that date, prices will increase, so don’t miss out! Yearbooks are a wonderful way for students to remember their school year, friendships, and special moments. Secure your copy early and save!

Early Bird Deadline: December 21

Discounted Price: $20

Order Now: https://www.buytheyearbook.com/en/ use school code: 387488

Thank you for your continued support, and we look forward to helping your child make lasting memories this school year!

PTA Corner - Updates from Highlands PTA!

Trunk or Treat Sign up and Candy Donations!

We love our Highlands community and we are excited to host another Trunk or Treat. In order to make this program a success we are in need of candy donations!!! Thank you for your continued support!

If you are intersted in signing up to host a Trunk at our Trunk or Treat please fill out the form to secure your space by scanning the QR below or CLICK HERE!

Update to PTA Calendar Fundraiser coming soon!

Due to an issue with the QR code on the PTA Calendar Fundraiser, We will be resending out calendars for families to complete soon! We apologize for any inconvenience. Any questions please feel free to reach out to treasurer.highlandspta@gmail.com

The Counselor's Corner

Mrs. Nelson

Hello Highlands' Families,

We want every student to feel valued and for every student to feel loved to achieve their full potential academically, socially and emotionally.

How can adults help?

Communicate: Encourage your child to express their feelings and acknowledge how they are feeling.

Create Routines: A consistent routine fosters a sense of security in children.

Encourage In-person Social Interactions: Schedule times to rekindle old friendships and make new ones. Positive friendships help to make school and life more enjoyable.

Listen to their concerns: Help your child identify the thoughts that may be causing negative feelings. Help teach them ways to talk back to negative thoughts. Develop solutions together to help them believe in themselves. For Example: If you hear, “I do not have any friends.” Have them think of ways to make friends. Name the ways they have made friends in the past.

Notice Physical Symptoms: Worry, fear, stress and nerves can often present through belly aches, headaches, and nausea. If medical reasons are ruled out, emotions may be the cause. Relaxation exercise and deep breathing can help students learn to cope.

Avoid Avoidance: Often, we want to protect our kids from uncomfortable emotions. Hiding away from our fears may make them worse. Encourage your child to always attend school. Reach out to your child’s teacher or school counselor whenever negative emotions persist.

Students are participating with me during their classroom lessons on character development and healthy coping strategies.

Please contact me if you need resources or support. Peace!

Mrs. Melissa Nelson, Certified School Counselor

407-746-6691, melissa_nelson@scps.k12.fl.us

Check out Red Apple Dining Menus

Click HERE to see the menu!

Introducing: Mealviewer

Starting in the 2025-2026 school year, Red Apple Dining is improving our guests’ dining experiences with MealViewer, a brand new menu-viewing application available on both Mobile & Desktop.

Other Mealviewer Perks include:

View Breakfast, Lunch, and A La Carte Menus All-in-One
New Tools like the Nutrition Calculator and Interactive Menu Items
Create a Profile to Set your School and / or Track Allergies

Mealviewer - Highlands Menus

Apply for Meal Benefits Here

PBIS Expectations

Highlands is a Positive Behavior Interventions and Support School (PBIS)!

We expect all students to follow our LEAD expectations so we can keep our school a happy and safe place for all students.

We appreciate family support as we utilize the 7 Habits in connection with our PBIS initiatives!

ASK YOUR CHILD ABOUT OUR STAR STUDENT TABLES IN THE CAFETERIA!!

ASK YOUR CHILD ABOUT LEADERSHIP CARDS AND OUR HUSKY HUB!

Husky Gear Now Available!

Excited for the new school year and ready for an out-of-this-world new addition to your school wardrobe! Our Atticus School Store is now OPEN. Don't worry parents it isn't just for students we have t-shirts, short sleeve, long sleeve, hoodies and athletic dry-fit all available! Act now and order before 7/28 to pick up on Meet the Teacher. All other others will be delivered to students homeroom teacher when they are delivered. Click below to get directly to the store!

Atticus School Store

Every Minute Counts!

Remember students may arrive on campus at 8:05 AM for breakfast and the bell rings at 8:35AM.

Attendance Numbers by Month:

August – 287 absences / 187 tardies

September - 523 absences / 312 tardies

#YouMissSchoolYouMissOut

CALLING ALL DIVIDENDS!!

Are you interested in being a Volunteer for our school? Interested in chaperoning your child's field trip? Want to participate in Teach-in? How about helping out in the classroom? Now is the time to sign-up to be a Dividend!

Click HERE to apply.

Highland's Elementary Amazon Wishlist

We appreciate any support as we begin the new school year. We can use extra goodies for our PBIS incentives. We also like to surprise our teachers and stock the fridge/teacher's lounge with sodas and coffees here and there.

We appreciate any and all support!

HLES Amazon Wishlist

Thank You Community Sponsors!

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!

THANK YOU to the following business partners for donating to Highlands Elementary!

Voyage Retirement Solutions - Welcome back Breakfast for our teachers & staff
Core Financial Services - Prizes to support our new AR program!
Action Church - Donated a LOT of food for our Food pantry
Papa Johns Pizza Longwood- Donating Pizza monthly for our Pizza with the Principal event!
Jeremiah's Italian Ice Casselberry- Hosting Monthly Spirit Night the first Wednesday of every month to help support both our school and PTA.

Principal:

Jodi Gonzalez (Farbstein)

Jodi_Farbstein@scps.k12.fl.us

Assistant Principal:

Robert Adamowicz

Robert_Adamowicz@scps.k12.fl.us

Highlands Elementary

1600 Shepard Road

Winter Springs, FL 32708

407-746-6650

Highlands Elementary School Website