Principal Welcome

 

What do you think about when you think of elementary school? Laughter and smiles, learning the world around you, the sense of safety and belonging? Hiland Park Elementary is all of those things and more! My name is Ilea Faircloth and I am the proud principal of Hiland Park Elementary School! Here at Hiland Park we teach the whole child and prepare them to be leaders and confident learners. The mission of Hiland Park Elementary is to develop the whole child by empowering leaders and creating an atmosphere of excellence and happiness.

 

How do we achieve such a high goal? The Leader in Me and our house system. In fact, we are one of 489 prestigious "lighthouse status" schools. That means that we implement the Leader in Me program and have done so in a way that we are recognized internationally. We work to move our students from dependence, independence, then interdependence. Our students begin in PreK to live the 7 Habits:

 

1. Be Proactive

2. Begin with the End in Mind

3. Put First Things First

4. Think Win/Win

5. Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood

6. Synergize

7. Sharpen the Saw

 

We also use the Ron Clark House System to inspire our students to be leaders and celebrate what makes each of us special. Our school is divided into four leadership houses to create unique communities. Houses include: Altruismo (Black House) Givers, Amistad (Red House) Friendship, Isibindi (Green House) Courage, and Rêveur (Blue House) Dreamers. The houses create a sense of belonging and community within our school. We recognize teamwork and celebrate each other as a school, not just grade level. Hiland Park is a staple of the community and part of so many Bay County families. In 1937, Mr. H. D. Foreman donated a 5 acre tract of land to the Bay County School Board for the purpose of building a school on the site. The school was constructed, in 1937, by local labor with the school board furnishing the materials. After completion, the school consisted of 4 classrooms and a total enrollment of 121 students. Each year thereafter, our school grew and enrollment peaked at over 800 students.

 

This year, Hiland Park has a little over 500 students after Hurricane Michael. We look forward to seeing our school and community rebuild and our Razorbacks come back. We welcome you at Hiland Park- where leadership and community inspire tomorrow’s leaders. #HPELeadtheWay

 

ILEA FAIRCLOTH, Principal
faircim@bay.k12.fl.us