Highlands Elementary School

Circa 1943 Highlands Elementary School Building.
Building faced NE Harrington, and was located
where the baseball field is now.

Highlands Elementary School was originally built to accommodate an influx of families during World War II. The Renton School District purchased six and one half acres of land from the Federal Government at a cost of $286 per acre. The first Highlands Elementary School was built on this property.

The school opened in 1943, housing the children of those who were moving into the area for war time employment at The Boeing Airplane Company, Pacific Car and Foundry, etc. The 20-room frame building was constructed at a total cost of $154,000, with 20% of the money coming from the state and the balance of the money from the Federal Government.

The original Highlands building was razed and a new school opened in 1970.

'The second incarnation of Highlands'

Our second highlands Elementary building was built in 1970. The total cost of the new 56,351 square foot school was $1,306,662. In 1983, nearby Honey Dew Elementary was closed due to decreasing enrollment, and 200 students were relocated to Highlands, resulting in 100 Highlands students being reassigned to Kennydale Elementary School.

2003 Highlands Elementary

Our newest building was built during the 2002-2003 school year. It is a two-story building currently housing 650 students in grades K-5. Some of the highlights of the building include:

Classrooms that adjoin to encourage team-teaching
A separate wing for kindergarten, including a separate kindergarten playground
A beautiful cafeteria with a movable wall to enable spreading out into the gymnasium
A stage that can be expanded into the music room
An up-to-date computer lab adjoining the library upstairs