{"monthlySchoolDonationEnabled":false,"callToActionDisplayName":"Highland Middle School","outOfStateSupporters":8.3,"allowSchoolLevelGiving":true,"hasFundedProjects":true,"projectGratitudeData":[{"teacherId":7291948,"projectId":9707923,"letterContent":"I wanted to take a moment during this cold time of year to express our thanks for the wonderful supplies we received as part of our Biodiversity Survey project this fall. \r\n\r\nWith your help, we were able to purchase supplies to study the creatures that live right in our own backyard - birds, invertebrates, and plants. We used the containers and ground mustard to look for invasive earthworms (you create a \"mustard slurry\", pour it on the ground, and because the solution itches the worms, they come up out of the ground). We also set up pitfall traps and used beat sampling to sample terrestrial invertebrates, like spiders, ants, and beetles. Although these creatures are not cute and cuddly like the deer and rabbits we caught on our track camera, they play an important role in the ecosystem and have a dazzling array of survival adaptations. Because we had bird feeders as part of our supply list, we were able to set them up in front of the track cameras and capture images of birds in our small forest plot. And finally, we sampled plant diversity, because plants form the base of all of our food webs. \r\n\r\nUsing what we discovered, each student chose a plant and an animal to research. That research then became part of a project that the students can share in a variety of ways. All students were given the option to visit the local elementary school and share what they learned; these trips will happen when we return from winter break. To make it more engaging for the elementary students, my students were tasked with integrating their research into comic books or games that they could play. For example, one of the students discovered that earwigs release a toxic fluid when threatened, and that fact is now playing a central roll in the survival game that he created!","fullyFundedDate":1759086700072,"projectUrl":"project/biodiversity-survey/9707923/","projectTitle":"Biodiversity Survey","teacherDisplayName":"Dr. Harris","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp7291948_orig.jpg?crop=967,967,x913,y1102&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1753987195208","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/7291948"},{"teacherId":7291948,"projectId":9579625,"letterContent":"My students and I wanted to send you a quick note to let you know how things went with our \"Light Party\" materials!\r\n\r\nThe wonderful thing about the Light Party materials is that they are reusable and will be helpful for many different classes. For the first \"party\", I set up the room in stations where students could use glow-in-the-dark materials for a review day before a test. Students played \"bingo\" using review questions and then wrote answers to short-response questions with invisible ink. My students said that they enjoyed the review much more than a regular review day, and they were super excited to be able to use the manipulatives and party \"favors\". I gave out glow-in-the-dark tattoos as a prize for the winning team. \r\n\r\nThe next time we used the black lights, we did a Halloween lab where we learned how materials store light energy and then release it under the black lights. We did several different activities, including making ooblek, experimenting with glow sticks, and exploring density with glow in the dark paint. \r\n\r\nI'm excited to have these lights as a part of my classroom, and we are already planning how to use them to explore the chemistry of stars when we begin our astronomy unit!","fullyFundedDate":1756944896189,"projectUrl":"project/light-party/9579625/","projectTitle":"Light Party!","teacherDisplayName":"Dr. Harris","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp7291948_orig.jpg?crop=967,967,x913,y1102&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1753987195208","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/7291948"},{"teacherId":7291948,"projectId":9496104,"letterContent":"We wanted to update you on how our fall outdoor explorations have been going!\r\n\r\nFirst and most importantly, this project has allowed all of my students to participate in getting into the stream. We have a variety of sizes of boots and new nets so that all kids can get their hands wet (and dirty). They absolutely love getting into the stream to look for fish, frogs, crayfish, and macroinvertebrates (aquatic larvae of organisms like caddisflies, mayflies, and dragonflies). \r\n\r\nUsing our sampling data, we are building an understanding of the health of our stream. Depending on who lives in an ecosystem, you can learn a lot about its health - for example, do you only have organisms that can survive a lot of pollution, like snails and leeches? Or do you have organisms that are sensitive to pollution, like stoneflies and damselflies? Together, we have used the numbers and types of organisms to explain whether the health of our stream is excellent, good, or poor. As a next step, students will research one organism that interests them and create a collective field guide for our schoolyard ecosystem. \r\n\r\nWe cannot thank you enough for supporting us and our school!","fullyFundedDate":1754055782227,"projectUrl":"project/outdoor-explorations/9496104/","projectTitle":"Outdoor Explorations","teacherDisplayName":"Dr. Harris","teacherPhotoUrl":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/orig/tp7291948_orig.jpg?crop=967,967,x913,y1102&width=272&height=272&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1753987195208","teacherClassroomUrl":"classroom/7291948"}],"pageName":"schoolpage_22900","usesDonorsChoose":true,"infoPageType":"school","demographicsInfo":{"numStudents":349,"numTeachers":32,"percentFrplEligible":52,"percentAsian":2,"percentBlack":6,"percentWhite":70,"percentIndigenous":0,"percentLatinx":14,"showFreeAndReducedPriceLunchInfo":true,"showDemographicsInfo":true,"sourceTooltipString":"the National Center for Education Statistics","gradesServed":"6 - 9","studentTeacherRatio":"10.9:1","demographicsDataSource":"MDR School","equityFocus":true,"titleOne":true,"metroType":"SUBURBAN","ncesMetroType":"SUBURB_LARGE"},"inStateSupporters":91.7,"schoolId":22900,"financialInfo":null,"twitterShareText":"Learn more about Highland Middle School on @DonorsChoose:","schoolName":"Highland Middle School","canonicalPageUrl":"schools/new-york/highland-central-school-district/highland-middle-school/22900"}
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About this school
Highland Middle School is
a suburban public school
in Highland, New York that is part of Highland Central School District.
It serves 349 students
in grades 6 - 9 with a student/teacher ratio of 10.9:1.
Its teachers have had 3 projects funded on DonorsChoose.
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of students receive free or reduced price lunch
Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more
Source: the National Center for Education Statistics
22%
of students are Black, Latino, Native
American, or Asian
Data about school demographics comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. The numbers in this chart may not add up to 100% because of limitations in the available data.
Highland Middle School Support on DonorsChoose
Last updated Jan 17, 2026
DonorsChoose makes it easy for anyone to help a teacher in need, moving us closer to a nation where students
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Highland Middle School
$1,806
raised using DonorsChoose
3
projects
funded
1
teacher
funded
24
donors
Highland Middle School has received support from
22 individuals from New York and
2 individuals out-of-state.
