Lafayette High School

Lafayette High School is a public high school in Lexington, Kentucky that has been open for , seen the beginning of racially-desegregated education in the city, and been overseen by eight principals. History Founded in 1939 to replace Picadome High School, Lafayette High School was built on the grounds of a former orphanage with funding from the Works Progress Administration. The school was named for Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette; the French general's family gave the school permission to use their family coat of arms as a logo. The school shared its property with a mansion—The Elms—until the latter burned down a few months into the first school year. In 1955, Lafayette was the first white school in Lexington to be racially integrated when Helen Caise Wade (a student at Lexington's all-black Douglass High School) took a summer school course in US history. Dwight Price (born ) was principal from 1972–87. After its comprehensive 1998 building renovation, Lafayette implemented block scheduling beginning with the 2000–01 academic year. In 2012, the school received its eighth principal: Memphis, Tennessee-native and University of Kentucky graduate Bryne Jacobs (born ). Jacobs previously worked at Lexington's Paul Laurence Dunbar High School from 2000–12, and was still at Lafayette through at least the 2017–18 academic year. Renovation of the school's stadium was completed in 2010. The Lexington Herald-Leader reported in July 2022 that Anthony Orr, previously a superintendent of two Kentucky school districts, was the new Lafayette principal. In 2023, Niche ranked Lafayette as the fifth-best public high school in Kentucky, based on seven different weighted metrics. Demographics Lafayette is part of the Fayette County Public Schools school district. In the 2021–2022 academic year, 123.10 full-time equivalent teachers made the student-to-teacher ratio 19.65:1. That same year, of the student body, were Native American, were Asian, were Black, were Hispanic, were Pacific Islanders, were white, and were multiracial.