Highland Village Elementary will be closing at the conclusion of this school year, but members of the community are hosting an event on Saturday, May 3 to ensure its legacy is honored.
The event will start at 10 a.m. and last until 2 p.m. with carnival games, refreshments, activities and a ceremony starting at 10:30 that will honor the six principals that have served the school throughout its 44-year history.
Highland Village is one of five elementary schools in Lewisville ISD that is set to close at the end of the year due to budget concerns and lower enrollment in the district.
Linda Krause, a former Highland Village Elementary teacher, is the head of the legacy committee in charge of planning the closing event.
“We hate to call it a celebration because it’s very sad that they’re closing the school,” she said. “It’s sort of like a celebration of life, where you want to make it not so sad, even though it’s a very sad event.”
Donna Bailey, also a member of the legacy committee, lives in Highland Village, used to teach at the campus and has continued to volunteer there every week.
“It’s a special place,” she said. “The community rallies around Highland Village and it was the first school in this area, so it holds a special place in a lot of our hearts.”
Since the decision was made in December to close the school, Bailey said there is a different feel around the school when she goes to volunteer.
“It feels like a whole different atmosphere,” she said. “It’s like the life has been sucked out of it.”
Krause said the floor plan of the school is designed with six individual pods, one for each grade level, which will be used to highlight each of the eras of the six principals.
There will also be a memorial space that will honor staff and students that have passed away.
After the event, the school will still finish out the school year, which will end on May 23. It gives the community the opportunity to say farewell before it officially closes.
“What we’re looking for as a committee is to just give everybody a chance to come together, take a walk down memory lane and then say goodbye,” said Bailey.
Krause is confident the staff, students and their families will be in good hands once they move on from Highland Village Elementary, but tears will be shed because they’re losing a staple of the community.
