History

A Unique Heritage

In 1915, the Demonstration High School (University Laboratory School) opened for students at the Louisiana State University Pentagon Campus on North Third Street in Baton Rouge. The purpose of the high school was to provide teachers and pre-service teaching candidates with an opportunity to study and observe effective teaching methods and to obtain practical classroom experience. When the school opened, it enrolled 100 students in grades 8-11. The administration added the seventh grade in 1923. In 1925, LSU moved to its new campus in southeastern Baton Rouge and housed the Demonstration High School within the College of Education (Peabody Hall). By 1936, the college added grades 1-6. Grade 12 was added in 1945 and kindergarten was not added until 1981.

In 1953, the College of Education moved the Lab School from Peabody Hall to its present site on Dalrymple Drive. An auditorium and gymnasium were added in 1964. In the fall of 1979, a fire destroyed the elementary building; a new K-5 wing was added in 1981. To accommodate a burgeoning enrollment, temporary buildings were added in 1994 to house two sections of fifth grade. In the fall 2004, the Lab School dedicated a new building that housed elementary classes on the first floor and middle school classes on the second floor. Along with the new addition, the school renovated the first and second floors of the 1981 building to house elementary classes on the first floor and middle school classes on the second floor. In addition, the library doubled in size. This new addition and renovation allowed the school to expand the middle school from 225 students to 300 students and gradually increase the high school population to 400 students. In 2005, the Lab School completed a total renovation of the original 1953 high school building. The high school now has a population of 400 students. Our newest expansion is in the elementary division. In August 2006, the new elementary wing opened and the elementary division doubled in size. The school gymnasium suffered significant damage from a fire on May 12, 2007.  Currently under construction, it will re-open in 2008 along with the auditorium which was already ongoing renovations.

The LSU College of Education is celebrating its Centennial Year. You may learn both about the college and its relationship with the University Laboratory School by watching the Centennial Video.