Frankfort Independent Schools operates its elementary (Second Street School), high school (Frankfort High School), and alternative schools (Wilkingson Street School for troubled middle and high schoolers; EXCEL for skills enrichment; and the Panther Enrichment Program for additional learning opportunities) as a joint venture with the greater Franklin County Public School system. Frankfort schools open in early August, continue for nine weeks, then break for a three-week intersession. The combination continues through the year until summertime, when the students take a six- to seven-week break.
The following is a summary of data regarding the Frankfort public school system as of the 2004–2005 school year.
Total enrollment: 939
Number of facilities
elementary schools: 1
junior high/middle schools: 1
senior high schools: 1
Student/teacher ratio: 13.3: 1 (2005)
Teacher salaries (2003–2004 school year)
minimum: $27,500
maximum: $48,000
Funding per pupil: $7,665 (2005)
Frankfort and Franklin County are also home to a number of private and religious primary and middle schools, including Capital Day School (K-8), which focuses on accelerated learning with a traditional approach, along with Good Shepherd School (K-8) and the Montessori School of Frankfort (K-5). Millville Baptist Academy is a small school that covers grades 1-12.
Public Schools Information: Franklin County Public Schools, 315 Steele St., Frankfort, KY, 40601; telephone (502)875-8661; fax (502)875-8663.
Kentucky State University, smallest of the state's public institutions, is a 2,300-student school consisting of the College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Applied Sciences, the School of Business, the School of Public Affairs, and the Whitney M. Young, Jr. College of Leadership Studies. It also offers community college degrees. From the 1980s through 2004 more than 30 new structures or major building expansions have enhanced the University's 511-acre campus, which includes a 203 acre agricultural research farm. The school's close proximity to the Kentucky state government affords students a unique opportunity to participate in government administration internships and earn from 3 to 12 credit hours per semester. Pre-law students can also earn credits as interns in the State Office of the Attorney General. Once strictly an African American institution, the student body of about 2,500 is now racially blended.
With one building and one bookmobile, the Paul Sawyier Public Library serves both Frankfort and Franklin County. The library's book collection numbers more than 98,000 and its audio-visual collection is more than 10,000. The library has a strong program for children from one year to adolescence.
The Thomas D. Clark Research Library of the Kentucky Historical Society offers rare books, maps, and manuscripts on the state's past. It houses more than 90,000 books, more than 6,000 oral history interviews, and 12,000 reels of microfilm, including some of nineteenth-century newspapers, as well as more than 10,000 historic photographs. The Kentucky Department of Library & Archives provides state research facilities and governmental records. The Kentucky Military Records and Research Branch houses archives of the Kentucky Department of Military Affairs going back to 1791. The Archives of CESKAA at Kentucky State University include images, manuscript collections, and oral histories of African American Kentuckians, as well as the Fletcher collection on African American theater. The Aqua-culture Program at Kentucky State University seeks to meet future world food demands through research on more than 15 varieties of farmed fish.
Public Library Information: Sawyier Paul Public Library, 305 Wrapping St., Frankfort, KY 40601; telephone (502)223-1658, fax (502)227-2250