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—she earned an A. 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==