The public elementary and secondary schools in Louisville are part of a county-wide district operated by the Jefferson County Board of Education. The school system offers students a variety of optional programs including advanced programs for gifted students; career/technological programs for middle school students; magnet programs; strict, traditional school curriculums; trade schools; Learning Choice schools offering specialized instructional areas; and special programs for handicapped students. The Jefferson County Public School System has been recognized for its outstanding availability of technology for students. The county is home to the Gheens Professional Development Academy, a national model for teacher training. The SAT scores of county students are consistently higher than the national average. Eighty-one percent of county teachers have attained at least a master's degree. Student attendance rate was 93.8 in the 2003-2004 school year.
The following is a summary of data regarding Jefferson County's public schools as of the 2003–2004 school year.
Total enrollment: 97,000
Number of facilities
elementary schools: 87
junior high/middle schools: 23
senior high schools: 20
other: 23 learning centers
Student/teacher ratio: 17:1
Teacher salaries
average: $41,000
Funding per pupil: $5,463
Also operating in the area are Catholic and Christian schools, Academy for Individual Excellence, Louisville Collegiate School, Kentucky Country Day School, Summit Academy of Greater Louisville, The DePaul School, Walden School, and Waldorf School of Louisville.
Public Schools Information: Jefferson County Public Schools Administrative Offices, VanHoose Education Center, 3332 Newburg Rd., PO Box 34020, Louisville, KY 40232; telephone (502)485-3357
Louisville has three major institutions of higher learning: the University of Louisville, Bellarmine College, and Spalding University. The University of Louisville offers Ph.D.'s in 23 areas, including engineering (its Speed School of Engineering is nationally known), medicine, dentistry, law, and education. Bellarmine College offers master of arts degrees in social and business administration, education, and nursing, in addition to 44 undergraduate degrees. Spalding University offers extensive programs for the part-time student. In the Greater Louisville region are located 20 institutions of higher learning.
The main branch of the Louisville Free Public Library is located downtown, with 16 other branches and two bookmobiles throughout the metropolitan area. The library, which was founded in 1816, houses periodicals, films, records, art reproductions, government documents, and a Kentucky History and Kentucky Author Collection. It is a Federal Depository library for government documents. An even larger number of volumes is stored at the University of Louisville Libraries, home to more than 1.9 million books and special collections on Astronomy, Mathematics, and Irish Literature.
More than 30 research centers are located in Louisville; some are affiliated with local colleges and hospitals, and others concentrate on such fields as genealogy, health, engineering, law, crime prevention, and alcoholic beverage production. The Donald E. Baxter, M.D. Biomedical Research Building is part of the University of Louisville School of Medicine and one of the cornerstones for attracting new research scientists to its Health Sciences Center. Construction of a companion to the Baxter Research Building is now underway. The University's transplantation research program received international acclaim when it performed the second successful hand transplant in the world.
Public Library Information: Louisville Free Public Library, 301 York St., Louisville, KY 40203-2257; telephone (502)574-1611