Welcome to Highland Park Elementary School and the 2023-2024 school year! I am looking forward to meeting you and working with you this year.

My name is Dr. Brooke Blanks, and I am delighted to join the Highland Park Elementary family as your Principal. Prior to joining Highland Park, I was an assistant principal at Lucy Addison Middle School. I was an Associate Professor of Special Education at Radford University for nine years and a Project LEADS Fellow at University of North Carolina-Greensboro (UNC-G) for four years. I was an elementary and middle school special education teacher in Durham, North Carolina for the first five years of my teaching career. My undergraduate degree is from the University of Virginia. I have Masters degrees in Specialized Education Services and Educational Leadership from UNC-G and Radford University. I earned my Ph.D. is from UNC-G in Specialized Education Services. I am committed to serving all students, families, and teachers at Highland Park. We will work together to ensure that all of our children succeed academically and socially in a safe, secure, (and fun) learning environment!

During my eleven years in education, I've worked with incredible leaders of learning all around our state. After earning my master's degree in teaching, I started my career in the city of Newport News, enjoying proximity to the sand and surf. However, I fell in love with the Blue Ridge Mountains and spent several years teaching in Roanoke City before trying my hand at rural life and teaching in Floyd, Virginia. While there, I began to learn more about the behind-the-scenes mechanisms that keep a school running and decided to pursue my master's degree in educational leadership in order to further support students and teachers. I am overjoyed to be back in the Roanoke Valley, serving students in the warm and welcoming community of Highland Park.