The Harlan County Board of Education believes schools are strengthened when all stakeholders are actively engaged in the education process.
Our Board of Education would like your feedback for a school calendar which supports maximizing consistent instructional time for students, opportunities for professional growth for teachers and increasing student achievement.
Please complete this short 2025-2026 School Calendar survey (link below) by Friday, January 31st at 3 p.m.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfyuwAXel30LVuVamPmGlBK9tl6rSbm3d1l0iw_4O_ybdHqaA/viewform?usp=header
The Harlan County Middle School Cheer Competition will be held Friday at 6 p.m. at Harlan County High School. Doors open at 5:15 p.m. for the public.
Admission is $3. Concessions will be available.
Squads competing are Black Mountain, Cawood, Cumberland, Evarts, James A. Cawood, Rosspoint and Wallins.
Due to an overwhelming response to the competition, we have had to make some adjustments to be sure that we can accommodate the crowd.
We will be utilizing both sides of the gym as opposed to our traditional use of the home side only.
Evarts, Black Mountain, Rosspoint and Cumberland fans should sit on the home side.
Cawood, Wallins and James A. Cawood fans should sit on the visitor’s side.
Cheer squads are judged on a sideline cheer, floor cheer and pom routine. An award will be presented for crowd participation and sportsmanship.
Cheerleaders making honor roll will be recognized for their academic achievement.
This is the eighth year for the competition which funds the Frank Brittain Academic and Athletic Hall of Fame for Harlan County Schools.
The Harlan County Black Bears game vs. Pikeville this evening has been moved to Thursday at 6:30 p.m. The Lady Bears will play South Laurel at 8.
Homecoming will be moved to Wednesday, January 29th, at 5:30 p.m. Free admission.
We will have NTI Day 9 on Wednesday, January 22, 2025.
We will have NTI Day 9 on Wednesday, January 21, 2025.
The Harlan County Black Bears game against Pikeville scheduled this evening has been postponed until Thursday at 6:30 p.m. The Lady Bears will play South Laurel immediately afterward ( 8 p.m.)
Homecoming has been moved to Wednesday, January 29, at 5:30 p.m., with free admission.
The 5th/6th Grade tournament will be played tonight at JACES as scheduled.
Wallins vs. Green Hills @ 5:30 p.m.
Cawood vs. Cumberland @ 6:30 p.m.
The Harlan County Elementary Cheer Competition will be held Friday at 6 p.m. at Harlan County High School. Doors open at 5:15 p.m. for the public.
Admission is $3. Concessions will be available.
Squads competing are Cawood, Cumberland, Evarts, Green Hills and Rosspoint. All teams will compete facing the home side of the gymnasium.
Little Dancers from Rosspoint, Cumberland and Evarts will perform at intermission, along with the Harlan County High School Dance Team will perform.
Cheer squads are judged on a sideline cheer, floor cheer, and pom routine.
Cheerleaders making honor roll will be recognized for their academic achievement.
This is the eighth year for the competition which funds the Frank Brittain Academic and Athletic Hall of Fame for Harlan County Schools.
Let's Go Bears!
Good luck to our Harlan County High School Black Bears as they head to Owensboro to compete in the Class 2A state championships at the Owensboro Sports Center.
The Bears will play Mercer County on Friday at 9 p.m. EST, 8 p.m. CST.
All times on the bracket are CST or local time for Owensboro.
Tickets can only be purchased for the tournament at www.owensborotickets.com.
The only streaming service permitted for the tournament is www.prepspin.com. The cost is $14.95 per game. WTUK will broadcast the games on 105.1 FM. WTUK will not have video of the games.
The Harlan County Black Bears are headed to the state 2A Championship tournament in Owensboro. The Bears, led by Coach Kyle Jones, will battle Mercer County on Friday at 8 p.m. CST.
We will not have classes on Tuesday, January 14, 2025. Numerous areas of the county continue to be a challenge on returning to school safely as the snow depths varied, with the northern parts of the county receiving up to 8 inches. This is not an NTI day.
5th/6th Tournament:
The dates for the 5th and 6th tournament are January 16th (Thursday), January 21st (Tuesday), January 23rd (Thursday), and January 25th (Saturday). Cumberland Elementary is our host for this tournament.
All Tuesday and Thursday games will be played at JACES. The Consolation and Championship games (Saturday) will be played at HCHS. Games each session are scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.
Class 2A Section 7 Tournament Update
Note: Schedule is subject to change due to weather conditions
NTI Day 7 on Wednesday, January 8, 2025
Congratulations to Harlan County High School Senior Katherine Cornett on being selected as a WYMT/ARH Mountain Student Achiever.
https://www.wymt.com/video/2024/09/24/arh-student-achiever-6/
NOTICE FOR HARLAN COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS AND PARENTS
There will be a minimum of 2 days in-person classes with our current students (first semester) from the day we return to school before the semester officially ends.
The second semester is scheduled to begin January 10th. However, the new semester will not begin until school has resumed and two days of classes are held. This will give ample time to communicate any expectations concerning the collection and grading of all NTI assignments and any other classroom assignments that might be due.
In addition, for teachers, the grading window will be extended to accommodate for the addition of all NTI assignments (policy states minimum of 5 days allowance to turn NTI work in). Students will turn in NTI work to their first semester teacher even after the second semester may have already started. Teachers will communicate this with their students during the two day in-person classes as well as during NTI contacts.
The Harlan County High School Modern Band is shown following their first performance ever at the Christmas concert on Thursday. It was a joint event with the HCHS band.
The Modern Band Class was offered for the first time this semester. It features electric instruments and typical of what would be part of a modern, pop, rock, country and praise bands.
The band is under the direction of Heidi Abraham who was trained on it last year, and brought the curriculum into the school this fall.
Shown here, left to right, are Colton Gross, Hunter Hughes, Danny Templeton, Jeremy Moore, Gaige Taylor, Tristan Kelly, Zoe Jones, Jesse Blas and Benjamin Smith.
HOOVER, SULLIVAN RECEIVE BLACK BEAR AWARDS
The Harlan County High School Superintendent Student Council recently presented Black Bear Awards to Junior Braidyn Hoover and HCHS Bookkeeper Jeffery Sullivan.
In addition to his classes at Harlan County High School, Hoover attends Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College as part of the county dual credit program. He is in the auto mechanic classes.
He is the son of Heather and Rodney Hoover. He is a member of the school First Priority.
Council Member Jacob Schwenke said “Braidyn is kind to everyone he meets. In First Priority, in the morning, he makes sure to acknowledge everyone and make everyone feel welcomed and seen. He goes out of his way to make every person he meets feel valued.”
Shania Middleton, another member of the council, described Braidyn as “spontaneous.” He shines a light and talks to everyone, no matter who they are.”
Sullivan, originally from Flat Rock, AL, served in the United States Army from 1985 to 1993.
He has been a pastor for 15 years, with seven of those in Alaska and 3 in Las Vega. He has been pastor of the New Hope Church of God in Harlan for the past five years.
“Mr. Sullivan is a huge mentor,” said Middleton. “He is a leader. He is always there to step in when needed.”
Council member Savannah Hill said, “I just want to say how much I appreciate, not only your hard work here at the front office, but also how you supported our volleyball team. You came to most of our games and always cheered for us and even line judged sometimes. Thank you for being a supporter to us and always doing such a good job here at your job too.”
Black Bear Awards are student nominated and selected. The awards are to recognize students and staff who go above and beyond to assist others.
