School History

In March 2026, the Fayette County Board of Education agreed that the new school under construction on Greendale Road would be called Helen Caise Wade Elementary. Wade became the first Black student to integrate Fayette County Public Schools when she enrolled in a summer class at Lafayette High in 1955. A graduate of the original Frederick Douglass High School and Kentucky State University, she taught for decades in Ohio. 

"I can't tell you -- I am so happy. It's not just because of me," a tearful Wade said during the school board meeting, paying tribute to her parents. "We went through some hard times, and I had no idea that one day I would be standing here and thanking you. I didn't realize I was making history."

View the Naming Committee's Presentation