Heights Homecoming will be a community celebration

Heights High's marching band will help lead the homecoming parade.

On Friday, Oct. 6, the Heights High Tigers will face off against the Bedford Bearcats for Heights High’s homecoming football game. Behind the Friday-night gridiron lights will be the newly renovated high school, replacing the active construction zone that existed there for two years.

Many students, staff and community members have been waiting for the completion of the building—not just for the excitement of a new school, but also for the familiar sense of normalcy that the school’s return to the corner of Cedar and Lee roads will bring.

This year’s homecoming will offer a full weekend of Tiger Nation celebrations with families, schools, alumni and community partners. The weekend will be geared toward creating a unified community celebration, and a way to connect the schools, community and businesses in celebration of the opening of the new Heights High.

The Heights Schools Foundation led the initial planning, and worked collaboratively with a team comprising parents, alumni, the city of Cleveland Heights, the Cleveland Heights Police Department, CH-UH school district staff, and nonprofit partners FutureHeights and the Cedar Lee Special Improvement District. The goal is to mount a bigger, broader celebration.

The team devised a new parade route, coordinated with Lee Road merchants, and arranged to open the high school for Saturday tours. The weekend’s activities will wrap up with the city’s Happy 5K and 10K fundraiser on Sunday.

Heights alumni from all classes will be invited to “Fall back into the Heights” with a special Heights Foundation-sponsored parade watch party happening on the green space located between Tullamore Road and Meadowbrook Boulevard.

“We are inviting everyone to help us celebrate our schools, students, alumni and community,” said Julianna Johnston-Senturia (’87), Heights Schools Foundation executive director.

The homecoming parade will begin promptly at 5 p.m. on Friday evening, and will end at 6 p.m. The football game begins an hour later, at 7 p.m., which leaves time to grab a bite or enjoy a number of activities before kickoff.

The new parade route will provide onlookers with a chance to dine at a nearby restaurant, cheer, or simply watch in a way that will feel different from year’s past.

All CH-UH district schools are invited to show their Tiger Pride by participating in the parade, especially the high school student groups.

On Saturday, Oct. 7, tours of the renovated high school will be available between 10 a.m. and noon.

On Sunday, Oct. 8, the Happy 5K and 10K takes place, hosted by city merchants and the city of Cleveland Heights.

The run is a celebration of “all the good things happening in the city,” and it is also a fundraiser for the Cleveland Heights Youth Scholarship Fund. The Happy run will end with a post-race block party and a “happy” costume contest.