Model Laboratory School at EKU reaches a landmark anniversary, setting the course for future generations of young learners and educators.
Model Laboratory School at Eastern Kentucky University (EKU) is celebrating 120 years of preparing students and educators through hands-on, experiential learning. Established in September 1906, Model opened the same year as EKU, then known as Eastern Kentucky State Normal School, and was Kentucky’s first laboratory school. It remains Kentucky’s only laboratory school and one of about 50 operating in the United States.
“For 120 years, Model Laboratory School has provided students with opportunities to learn by doing while preparing future educators through hands-on experience,” said EKU President David McFaddin. “Model’s legacy is rooted in innovation and excellence, and we are proud to build on that legacy as we prepare Kentucky’s next generation of teachers.”
Laboratory schools grew in popularity across the country in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, following the model established by educator and reformer John Dewey at the University of Chicago. These schools gave educators, researchers and university students opportunities to collaborate through immersive learning and educational research.
“Dewey created a learning living laboratory where people could watch master teachers, learn how to do it themselves and then take it out to their schools,” said Dr. Elizabeth Smith, dean of the College of Education and Applied Human Sciences.
At their height, laboratory schools operated in several areas of the Commonwealth, including the University of Kentucky, Western Kentucky University and Morehead State University. However, they became less common as the public school system grew in the 1960s, and financial challenges emerged without a dedicated tax base.
Smith and Dr. John Williamson, superintendent and dean of Model Laboratory School, believe Model’s connection to EKU and its history as a teaching institution helped it endure. Williamson also attributes the school’s longevity to its success in providing students with an academically rigorous, hands-on educational experience designed to build mastery of real-world skills.
“When you walk through the halls of Model, whether you’re walking into a pre-K literacy center or a classroom of seniors defending their original research, what you’re going to find is students creating things — a business plan, a working prototype, a culinary dish, an investigative podcast episode. They’re performing, they’re rehearsing, they’re designing. They’re using calculations and equations to apply them to something real,” said Williamson.
The College Board named Model to its AP® School Honor Roll in 2025 at the program’s highest level. Model has received the honor three consecutive times since the Honor Roll launched in 2023. The designation recognizes Model among the top 8% of qualifying schools in the United States and Canada and the top 6% in Kentucky. Model High School also ranked among Kentucky’s top five high schools in 2021-22 and 2022-23 and was named a Five Star School by the Kentucky Department of Education in 2019.
In 2020, the Kentucky State Legislature recognized Model’s critical role in education by codifying its operation into law under House Bill 366 (now KRS 164.380), making it Kentucky’s only legislatively designated laboratory school.
In May 2025, EKU and Model leaders broke ground on a new facility that will carry the school’s legacy into the future. Kentucky lawmakers budgeted $149 million for the project, which is on track to open in August 2028.
“Beyond serving our PreK-12 student body, the new facility will feature a built-in professional learning center — for both in-service educators, and for the future teachers, nurses, therapists, psychologists, and school safety professionals who will do hands-on clinical and research work alongside our students,” Williamson said.
Model Laboratory School serves about 750 total students from PreK-12 who come from eight different counties across Central Kentucky.
By Bode Brooks
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