Lakeland Highlands Middle has its first indoor gym, 51 years after the school opened. The 15,000-square-foot building hosts PE, sports, assemblies and community events.

Lakeland Highlands Middle School has an indoor gym for the first time. Polk County Public Schools cut the ribbon on the 15,000-square-foot building on Wednesday, Oct. 14.

The school opened in 1975, so students waited 51 years for it. Construction began in June 2025 and finished this summer, the district said in its release on the new gymnasium.

What the gym is for

The district said the school can use the building for:

  • athletics
  • PE classes
  • assemblies
  • community events
A covered outdoor basketball court with a concrete floor at Lakeland Highlands Middle School, with classroom buildings on the left.
The covered outdoor court at Lakeland Highlands Middle. Photo: Polk County Public Schools

Part of a wider building program

The district said it has spent the past several years adding indoor gyms to its middle school campuses. Work is nearing completion on a new gym at Bartow Middle, about 14 miles southeast of Lakeland.

Lakeland Highlands Middle is at 740 Lake Miriam Drive in south Lakeland. It serves grades 6 to 8 and had 1,118 students in 2024-25. It earned a B in Florida’s 2026 school grades. Those figures and the school’s zone are on our Lakeland Highlands Middle school profile.

What it means for you

  • PE and indoor sports at the school now have a dedicated building.
  • Community events can use the gym, the district said. Ask the school’s front office, at 863-648-3500, about community use of the gym.
  • Rezoning: Lakeland Highlands Middle is one of the schools in the district’s middle school boundary review. Its families’ meeting is 6 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 22, at Bartow High. Details are in our story on the middle school rezoning meetings.