About Highland Park

Welcome to Highland Park! Our school has undergone many changes since opening as a park school in 1908. Today, we serve Old Southwest, Downtown Roanoke and the Gainsboro neighborhoods along with a portion of Southeast Roanoke. Highland Park is also home to one of the two PLATO centers for Roanoke City Public Schools, serving Gifted and Talented students from south and southwest Roanoke schools.

Academic excellence is part of our mission at Highland Park, and we strive to help all students reach their potential. In 2015, Highland Park was recognized by the Virginia Board of Education with the VIP Distinguished Achievement Award for Continuous Growth in Student Achievement.

Besides a focus on academics, Highland Park provides many opportunities for student exploration, including Spanish, Dance Espanol, VH1 Strings, Odyssey of the Mind, and Happy Healthy Cooks. Students may also participate in after-school experiences through our running club, chess club, dance, or garden clubs. We are very fortunate to have two community groups that support Highland Park, our PTA and CIA (Congregations in Action), who provide pack-a-snack meals, fun day, field trip scholarships and classroom resources for teachers.

Highland Park is a vibrant, diverse, engaged learning community and we are delighted to provide the highest quality education to all our families. Highland Park is home to the Hawks, and it is led by Principal Dr. Brooke Blanks and Assistant Principal Carley Alonzi.

School Quality Profile 

Home of the Hawks

Highland Park Elementary School
Main Office: (540) 853-2963
Fax: (540) 853-1692
1212 5th St. SW
Roanoke, VA 24016

Principal
Dr. Brooke Blanks | ablanks@rcps.info 

Assistant Principal
Shelly Atkins Papenfus | matkins@rcps.info

Secretary
Megan Zobel | mzobel@rcps.info

School Counselor
Jenny Roy | jroy@rcps.info