Lake Highlands Junior High, the 50 year-old school on the corner of Walnut Hill and Ferndale, lit up the night January 27th while hosting "Lights On Lake Highlands."

The jam packed Open House was a well organized event that showcased the school in an effort to entice future 2010-'11 seventh graders from LH area feeder schools.

The LHJH attendance zone reaches out to include Lake Highlands, Northlake, Thurgood Marshall, Wallace, and White Rock elementary schools.

The usual suspects, known as the core curriculum teachers, were on hand to introduce themselves, answer lots of questions, and give overviews of their classes to students and parents.

Foreign Language, Art, and Technology teachers were enthusiastic guides as well, offering a wealth of information.

Most appealing to the several hundred students attending were the current LHJH students positioned throughout the school to give tours and share inside information about what newcomers could expect.

LHJH student Micael Lonegran served as a library tour guide, as well as the voice of experience, when talking to a group of 6th graders. “I was so nervous when I came to the tour last year," said Lonegran. "But by the second day of starting school I was fine because all my teachers were great!”

The Open House was also an opportunity for the Junior High Band, Orchestra, and Cheerleading squad to entertain guests by kicking off the evening at 6:00 p.m.

Classrooms were then opened as teachers welcomed visitors with short presentations about what students could expect in their classes.

During the course of the evening, both Principal Veronica Escalante and Assistant Principal Talandra Griffen stopped in at all the classrooms to visit with parents and potential students.

8th graders Kwaniyah Osborne, Rakesha Harris and Briana Alford served as enthusiastic representatives of a program called TOPS – Team Offering Peer Support.

Kwaniyah was happy to talk up her school and especially tout the TOPS program. “It’s nice getting to show parents around and tell them about all our clubs!” She did remark that the 6th graders attending the event sure seemed young!

During the next two weeks, LHJH Counselors will be visiting the five feeder schools, discussing educational goals with the students, and working with them on the pre-registration process.

For 6th graders who will be attending Lake Highlands Junior High in the 2010-'11 school year, Registration will take place February 1st - 5th in their current elementary school classrooms.

For more information about LHJH and the registration process, contact the Counseling Department at 469.593.1616.