About Highland Park Elementary

Big-World Focus with Small-School Attention
Highland Park Elementary is a school of approximately 450 students for students PreK-5, located in the beautiful Highland Park neighborhood of St. Paul. As a St. Paul magnet school, we offer special instruction and programs not available elsewhere in areas D and F. We welcome all our students and families and love our diverse community of learners. The size of our school allows us to give students true personal attention while bringing a global perspective to education with the IB-PYP curriculum.

International Baccalaureate (IB) Primary Years Programme (PYP)
Initially authorized in 2003, we were the first school in the Midwest to be be designated as a Primary Years Programme School by the prestigious International Baccalaureate organization. This year we are proud to celebrate our 21st year of programme implementation, and we are extremely proud of how far we have come in the past 21 years.

Being an IB school means that our students think globally as they ask questions (inquire), explore issues hands-on, and take action to solve problems.  Also important to the Primary Years Programme is the learner profile. We embed the learner profile into the curriculum and the school climate.  Students are encouraged to exemplify the learner profile and attitudes on a daily basis in order to become open-minded global citizens. Our students learn to think and act globally as they explore complex issues, take action to solve problems, and reflect on what they have learned. 

Extracurriculars
We offer specialized coursework in Spanish, science, art, music, and physical education. We also provide artist-in-residence programs to inspire students in the visual and performing arts. Other learning activities include  Lego League, Lego Robotics, Girls on the Run, and other special-interest teams and clubs. Our entire school staff takes pride in promoting the success of each student, and provides all students with opportunities to see themselves as members of a local, national, and global community.