Lake Highlands High School is a secondary school serving grades 10-12 located in the Lake Highlands area of northeastern Dallas, Texas, United States, primarily serving the Lake Highlands community. The school is part of the Richardson Independent School District and is located centrally within Lake Highlands near the DART Blue Line. Additionally, the Lake Highlands Freshman Center (which sits on the same property as LHHS) houses the 9th grade students. The first graduating class of Lake Highlands High School was in 1964. The Freshman Center closed at the beginning of the 2016-2017 school year and still houses the 9th grade but is no longer a separate school.
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Feeder schools
Feeder Schools:
- Lake Highlands Junior High School
- Forest Meadow Junior High School
Academics
In 2002, the school received a Blue Ribbon award from the U.S. Department of Education. It was also named by U.S. News & World Report as one of the best high schools in America in 2001.
Extracurricular activities
Band
The school is the home of the Wildcat Band. It has accumulated many state and national honors. Under the direction of Eddie Green, the Symphonic Band made its first trip to the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic in December 1971 and performed at the Honor Concert. Later that school year, the band was selected as the Texas Music Educators Association Honor Band leading to an Honor Concert performance at the TMEA convention in February 1973. There have been repeat appearances at both venues. The band is now directed by Philip Alvarado, Rowlett High School's former director, assisted by James Rees and Aaron Singleton. The band has received "Sweepstakes", which is the highest rating possible, for both marching band and concert band for several years in a row.
Dance team
The school is home of the "Wildcat Wranglers", one of the few high school Country/Western dance teams existing in the United States. The group performed for the 1997, 2001, 2005, and 2009 presidential inaugurations, including at the Black Tie and Boots Balls and in the Inaugural Parades associated with the aforementioned inaugurations; in the 2005 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade; and performed in the 2008, 2012, and 2015 New Year's Day Parade in London. The school is also the home of the "Highlandettes", a Texas style Dance squad. They have performed in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade numerous times, as well as at many Dallas Cowboys football games, Dallas Stars games, and Dallas Mavericks games. They have also danced in Dublin, Ireland for the St. Patrick's Day parade, in Pearl Harbor, Honolulu, Hawaii, and this year, will travel to and perform in Italy.
Athletics
The school mascot is the Wildcat. The Wildcat is also the mascot of several of the high school's feeder schools including Lake Highlands Elementary, Northlake Elementary, Lake Highlands Junior High, and the above-mentioned Freshman Center.
The school's football team has been in the UIL regional and state playoffs numerous times and won the 5A state championship in 1981. The school has won district championships in baseball over 20 times since 1964.
The school has also won several district titles in boys Basketball including winning the 1967 State Championship.
The school also shares a football stadium with L.V. Berkner High School. Currently it is called "Wildcat-Ram Stadium," a collaboration of mascots. Lake Highlands students also unofficially refer to this stadium as "The Boneyard". Lake Highlands and Berkner have long been rivals in football and other sports. For the annual football rivalry, both schools are playing "at home" in Wildcat-Ram Stadium. The 2005 and 2006 rivalry games were won by the Berkner Rams in the final minute, either by a touchdown or a field goal. Lake Highlands won the 2007 rivalry game by a score of 31-24. Lake Highlands has won every game since then. The most recent being in 2015 with a score of 59-28.
Movie
Large portions of Ron Howard's 1978 TV movie Cotton Candy were filmed at the school. The movie was about a group of friends who started a band.
Notable alumni
- Amy Acker - actress
- Erin Aldrich - Track and field athlete, high jumper in 2000 Summer Olympics
- Nicole Bilderback - actress
- Paul Broome - Major League Soccer player
- Josh Carter - Texas A&M University, Maccabi Ashdod B.C. - basketball guard
- Warren Carter - University of Illinois basketball forward
- Annie Clark - Indie rock musician, performs under the name St. Vincent
- Marcus Coleman - former National Football League safety for the New York Jets, Houston Texans, and Dallas Cowboys
- John A. Davis - American film director, writer, animator, voice actor and composer
- Phil Dawson - NFL San Francisco 49ers kicker
- Matt Dunigan - CFL Hall of Famer
- Morgan Fairchild - actress
- George Gimarc - Local radio personality
- Merton Hanks - former National Football League safety for the San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks
- Chris Harrison - Host of the TV show "The Bachelor"
- Gibby Haynes - Musician, lead singer for rock band Butthole Surfers
- C.B. Hudson - lead guitarist of the rock band Blue October
- Justin Leonard - American professional golfer. British Open champion
- Scott Livingstone - former MLB player
- Scoot McNairy - Actor
- Anastasia Muñoz - voice actress affiliated with Funimation
- Marshall Newhouse- NFL Green Bay Packers OL
- Frank Okam - Football defensive tackle for the University of Texas and the Houston Texans
- Darvis Patton - Olympic Track Athlete
- Rich Phillips - Radio Personality - SportsRadio 1310 The Ticket
- James F. Reilly - NASA Space Shuttle Astronaut - Geologist
- Mark Salling - actor and singer on the television show Glee
- Thomas Sleeper - classical composer
- Detron Smith - former NFL running back (1996-2003) with Denver and Indianapolis
- Wade Smith - National Football League [Offensive Tackle] Memphis University
- Matt Stover - former NFL kicker with the New York Giants, Cleveland Browns, Baltimore Ravens, and Indianapolis Colts
- Jordan Tata - former MLB player
- Andre Tillman - former Miami Dolphins tight end (1975-1978)
- Kim Wozencraft - author
- Granger Smith - country singer
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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