Lake Highlands Elementary has the distinction of being the first elementary school built in Lake Highlands. When LHE opened its doors in October 1955, to a mere six classes, the entire Richardson Independent School District had only two buildings and fewer than 800 students. The Lake Highlands attendance area now encompasses nine elementary schools and two junior high schools, all of which feed into Lake Highlands High School (one of four high schools in RISD).

By 1962, the student population at LHE was up to nearly 600, and in the early 1970’s, when this neighborhood’s first growth cycle was at its peak, LHE served nearly 1,000 students. As this neighborhood’s first generation of children grew older, the population of LHE declined; and as space became available in the building, RISD chose LHE as one of its sites for several specialized programs, including bilingual education, pre-kindergarten, and one of the district’s centralized special education program.

In 1993, the youthful repopulation of Lake Highlands became evident when LHE added extra classes to meet its kindergarten, first and second grade enrollments. It is apparent that we are beginning the second generation as a traditional neighborhood school, with exciting new challenges and achievement potential ahead.

During the 2001-02 school year, bond funds provided much-needed renovation and additions to our building. We had a new library and computer lab added on to the building. With our school being one of the oldest in the district, we fell under a “complete renovation” category. Hall-by-hall the school was closed off throughout the school year. Classes rotated in and out of temporary portable classrooms and the school was transformed into a brand new structure. The halls were painted, new flooring throughout, and a newly configured main office space was added. The outside of the building still maintains its original structural design, with updated windows, handicapped ramps, exterior doors and some fresh paint all became part of our changes.