Highland's We The People team has won the state championship since 2000. The team is coached by Steve Seth and Bob Coffey. On December 9, 2004, the team claimed its fifth state championship. When they went on to Nationals, they came in 4th place in the nation in 2005. In April, 2007 the We The People team received the Mountain Plains Regional Championship in the National Finals. In December 2007, the team clinched yet another state championship, and went on to compete in Washington D.C., where their Unit 2 was awarded a unit award. In April 2014 the team placed 10th in the nation in Washington DC. Highland High school has a very diverse population, with students from many cultures and socio-economic backgrounds. Many foreign exchange students attend the school each year. The school has a strong International Students Club that produces an annual Multicultural Assembly that showcases performance arts from the various cultures represented at Highland and is performed by both students and staff members.
Athletics
Football was ranked #2 in the 2006 state tournament. Highland football earned an additional bid in the 2008 state playoffs. The boys' soccer team was ranked second and the girls' soccer team finished third in the 2007 5A State Tournament. The #3-ranked boys' basketball team finished as runner-up in the 2009 state championship. Also, in 2009, boys' basketball set a school record with a 26-win season. Highland Track held the state title in 2005. The cross-country team was ranked #2 in the state in 2005 and 2006. The boys' track-and-field team won the 2009 5A state championship. The girls' track-and-field team won the 2010 5A state championship. The Hornets have a total of 22 boys' track-and-field state championships. HHS competes in the New Mexico Activities Association as a class 4A school in District 6. In 2018 NMAA realigned the state's schools into five classifications and adjusted district boundaries.
In popular culture
A number of scenes in movies and TV shows have been filmed at Highland, including Spy School, the 2009 movie Carriers, ‘’ The Space Between Us’’ the pilot episode for . Highland is popular among producers due to the architecture of its main building, and due to the tax credits that the state of New Mexico has recently begun offering to movie producers. For Season 3 of the AMC series Breaking Bad, a scene was filmed inside the Highland gymnasium. A scene in the 2017 film Logan was also filmed there. A Netflix original series named “Daybreak” was filmed through the school year 2018-2019
