Highland Elementary

As a roomy elementary campus in COLUMBIA HEIGHTS, Minnesota, Highland Elementary caters to 534 students from grades pre-K through 5, operated by Columbia Heights Public School Dist. By comparison, Minnesota's public schools average about 344 students each, so Highland Elementary sits 55% larger than that benchmark.

Across the 10 schools in Columbia Heights Public School Dist (3,516 students total), Highland Elementary accounts for its share of the district's footprint.

For racial and ethnic makeup, Highland Elementary reports that the most-represented group is Hispanic (51%), with the rest of the student body spread across multiple groups; the rest reads as 23% Black, 15% White, 5% multiracial, 5% Asian. That is noticeably more Hispanic than the county at large, where the share is closer to 6%.

Looking at school resources, The school employs 34 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 15.7:1. That figure is higher than the state norm's 13.7:1 average. Around 78% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment. Set against Anoka County (around 42%), the school's rate is north of typical.

After controlling for student poverty, Highland Elementary sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 23.0%; this one delivers 17.9%.

In the area at large, census data for Anoka County shows median household income runs about $101,869, 32% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and the poverty rate sits near 5%. Highland Elementary is one of 145 public schools in Anoka County (combined enrollment of about 59,656 students).

Early Childhood is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.0 miles from this campus. Within five miles, there are 8 other public schools. On composite proficiency, Highland Elementary comes 3rd of 4 in the immediate cluster, behind the nearby-schools average of 25.6%.

Highland Elementary operates from a bedroom-community location.

Over the past 7-year window. Over the past 7-year window, the student count edged down 9%: 589 students in 2018 compared to 534 in 2025. Hispanic enrollment moved from 27% to 51% across the same window.

In the discussion threads here, members of the Highland Elementary community share and discuss pickup logistics, teacher feedback, and after-school programs. Members of the school community can share what they know.