(This page's most recent update is
June 2024)
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Do you research school records? I’m not talking about yearbooks. Those can be found on the Yearbooks Page. I’m talking about actual school records, such as enrollment, attendance, and grade reports for example. These are interesting source documents because they might record the student’s age, birth date and location, and possibly their parents’ names. All great ways to find this information if you haven’t found them in other documents about your target ancestor. Besides, finding out your grandmother’s grades would be interesting!
The record collection links, listed below, feature school records from the state, and list collections of records that are available for free online.
If you wish to get educated with some basic information regarding what is available and how to navigate your research for school records, you can read these summaries:
- 5 Quick Tips to Get the Most Out of Education Records
- Top 10 Strategies for Finding School Records for Genealogy
- Getting Started With School Records for Genealogy Research
So, what types of records related to schools are maintained and often available?
- School Census
- School Catalogs
- Teacher’s Registers
- Attendance Records
- Report Cards
- Class Logs
- Teacher Rosters
- School Board Meetings/Reports
- Academic Team and Class Photos
- Local Newspaper Articles:
- Graduation Lists
- School Activities
- School Sports
- Student Newspapers
- Alumni Directories and Publications
- Yearbooks
- Yearbook Indexes
And, what types of information can you derive from these school records?
- Name (often includes a middle name which is useful).
- Age
- Physical Characteristics – color/race, disability.
- Birth Date
- Current Residence Address
- Name of Father
- Name of Mother
- Occupations of parents
- Grades
- Classes Taken
- Activities (from Photos)
- Date left school (can help with family residence relocation)
Below is a list of links to free online school record collections for the state;
Note: Some of the links go to sites with not much information and some go to sites with an extensive set of records.
Note: Some links listed take you to a FamilySearch Collection of digital images. Near the bottom of the page under Film/Digital Notes is the name of each sub-collection. If there is a camera icon at the right of the name (in the Format column) then the collections’ images are browsable. If there is a camera with a key icon, it is only available at a Family History Center or affiliated library. If there is a film reel icon, then it is only available in microfilm format, not digital. To take full advantage make sure that you are logged in to FamilySearch. The results may be different if you are signed in, rather than not.
Kentucky School Records
- Adair County, A Brief History of Education
- Adair County, Miscellaneous School Photos and Student Lists
- Allen County, Miscellaneous School Photos and Student Lists
- Anderson County School Census Books, 1898-1918
- Ballard County, Miscellaneous School Photos and Student Lists
- Barren County, Miscellaneous School Photos and Student Lists
- Bath County School Census and Enumeration, 1916-1920
- Bath County, Miscellaneous School Photos and Student Lists
- Bell County, Miscellaneous School Photos and Student Lists
- Boone County School Census Report, 1896-1902
- Bourbon County, Miscellaneous School Photos and Student Lists
- Bowling Green, Potter College for Young Ladies, History, 1889-1909
- Boyd County, Miscellaneous School Photos and Student Lists
- Boyle County School Census, 1900-1903
- Boyle County, Miscellaneous School Photos and Student Lists
- Bracken County School Census & Enumeration Sheets, 1894-1928
- Bracken County, Miscellaneous School Photos and Student Lists
- Breathitt County School Census, 1898-1900
- Breathitt County, Miscellaneous School Photos and Student Lists
- Breckinridge County, Miscellaneous School Photos and Student Lists
- Bullitt County, Miscellaneous School Photos and Student Lists
- Butler County, Miscellaneous School Photos and Student Lists
- Caldwell County, Miscellaneous School Photos and Student Lists
- Calloway County Annual Settlement of Commissioners or Superintendents of Schools, 1875-1894
- Calloway County, Miscellaneous School Photos and Student Lists
- Campbell County, Miscellaneous School Photos and Student Lists
- Carlisle County, Miscellaneous School Photos and Student Lists
- Carter County, Miscellaneous School Photos and Student Lists
- Casey County, Miscellaneous School Photos and Student Lists
- Christian County, Miscellaneous School Photos and Student Lists
- Clark County, Miscellaneous School Photos and Student Lists
- Clay County, Miscellaneous School Photos and Student Lists
- Clinton County, Miscellaneous School Photos and Student Lists
- Clinton, Kentucky 1931 School Census
- Clinton, Kentucky 1931 School Census
- Crittenden County, Miscellaneous School Photos and Student Lists
- Cumberland County, Miscellaneous School Photos and Student Lists
- Danville, A Centennial History of the Kentucky School for the Deaf
- Daviess County, Miscellaneous School Photos and Student Lists
- Edmonson County School Census and Enumeration, 1877-1880, 1896, 1906
- Edmonson County, Miscellaneous School Photos and Student Lists
- Edmonson County, School Census, 1877
- Elizabethtown, The Bond-Washington Story; the Education of Black People
- Elliott County School Census, 1902-1932
- Elliott County, Miscellaneous School Photos and Student Lists
- Estill County, History of Thomas School: Sub District #30
- Excelsior Collegiate Institute, History, 1879-1915
- Fayette County School Records, 1898-1910
- Fayette County, Miscellaneous School Photos and Student Lists
- Fleming County, Miscellaneous School Photos and Student Lists
- Floyd County School Records and Photos
- Floyd County, Miscellaneous School Photos and Student Lists
- Fulton County, Carr Institute
- Fulton County, Fulton High Bulldogs, 1931
- Fulton County, Fulton High Football Team, 1941
- Fulton High School – Class of 1928
- Fulton High School Girl’s Basketball Team, 1921-22
- Gallatin County School Census and Enumeration Sheets V. 1-5, 1894-1936
- Gallatin County, Miscellaneous School Photos and Student Lists
- Garrard County, Miscellaneous School Photos and Student Lists
- Graves County School Census, 1889-1908
- Graves County, Ky. School Census, 1899
- Graves County, Miscellaneous School Photos and Student Lists
- Grayson County School Census & Enumeration Sheets, 1898-1900
- Grayson County, Miscellaneous School Photos and Student Lists
- Green County School Census, 1895-1906
- Green County, Miscellaneous School Photos and Student Lists
- Greenup County, Miscellaneous School Photos and Student Lists
- Hancock County School Census, 1894-1906
- Hardin County, Miscellaneous School Photos and Student Lists
- Harlan County, Miscellaneous School Photos and Student Lists
- Harrison County, Miscellaneous School Photos and Student Lists
- Hart County, Miscellaneous School Photos and Student Lists
- Hart County, Munfordville School Students 1913-1914
- Henderson County, Miscellaneous School Photos and Student Lists
- Henry County, Miscellaneous School Photos and Student Lists
- Hickman County, Miscellaneous School Photos and Student Lists
- History of Bethlehem School, Science Hill, 1816-1960
- History of Sayre School: 1854-1954
- Hopkins County, Kentucky 1898 School Census
- Hopkins County, Miscellaneous School Photos and Student Lists
- Jackson County, Miscellaneous School Photos and Student Lists
- Jefferson County, Miscellaneous School Photos and Student Lists
- Johnson County, Miscellaneous School Photos and Student Lists
- Kenton County, Miscellaneous School Photos and Student Lists
- Kentucky Digital Library, Miscellaneous School Records
- Kentucky Female Orphan School History
- Kentucky Female Orphan School: a History
- Kentucky, Pioneer Women Teachers
- Knox County School Census Records, 1880-1905
- Laurel County, Miscellaneous School Photos and Student Lists
- Lawrence County School Census, 1898-1902
- Lawrence County, Miscellaneous School Photos and Student Lists
- Lee County School Census Lists
- Leslie County, Miscellaneous School Photos and Student Lists
- Letcher County, Miscellaneous School Photos and Student Lists
- Lewis County, Miscellaneous School Photos and Student Lists
- Lexington Area, Miscellaneous School Related Publications
- Lincoln County, Miscellaneous School Photos and Student Lists
- Livingston County School Census, 1898-1913
- Livingston County, Colored School Censuses, 1898-1913
- Livingston County, Miscellaneous School Photos and Student Lists
- Logan County School Census, 1877-1906
- Logan County, History of Education
- Logan County, Miscellaneous School Photos and Student Lists
- Louisville, Catholic Church. St. Joseph Orphan Home, Records, 1849-1945
- Lyon County Common School Commissioner’s Annual Report, 1874-1884
- Lyon County School Census and Enumeration Sheets, 1885-1932
- Lyon County, Miscellaneous School Photos and Student Lists
- Lyon County, “Tennessee Rolling Mills” School Census 1885-1921 School Census for Year ending June 30, 1885; 1903, 1913, 1920-21
- Magoffin County Annual School Settlements, 1878-1885
- Magoffin County School Census, 1897-1906
- Marion County School Census, 1894-1900
- Marshall County, Miscellaneous School Photos and Student Lists
- Martin County School Census, 1870-1920
- Mason County, Miscellaneous School Photos and Student Lists
- McCracken County, Miscellaneous School Photos and Student Lists
- McCreary County, Miscellaneous School Photos and Student Lists
- McLean County, Miscellaneous School Photos and Student Lists
- Menifee County, Miscellaneous School Photos and Student Lists
- Mercer County, Miscellaneous School Photos and Student Lists
- Metcalfe County School Census, 1894-1899, 1903-1905
- Metcalfe County, Miscellaneous School Photos and Student Lists
- Miscellaneous School Lists by County
- Monroe County School Census, 1893-1903
- Montgomery County School Records, 1897-1900
- Morgan County School Census, 1893-1916
- Morgan County, Miscellaneous School Photos and Student Lists
- Muhlenberg County, School Superintendent Annual Settlement, 1894-1914
- Nicholas County School Records, 1895-1932
- Nicholas County, Miscellaneous School Photos and Student Lists
- Northern Kentucky Yearbook Indexes
- Ohio County, Miscellaneous School Photos and Student Lists
- Pendleton County Census Report of School Children, 1896-1926
- Pendleton County, Miscellaneous School Photos and Student Lists
- Perry County, Miscellaneous School Photos and Student Lists
- Pike County School Census, 1895-1924
- Pulaski County School Photos
- Robertson County School Census, 1898-1908, 1928-1934, 1895, 1930, 1932, 1934
- Robertson County, Miscellaneous School Photos and Student Lists
- Rockcastle County, Miscellaneous School Photos and Student Lists
- Rowan County, Miscellaneous School Photos and Student Lists
- Russell County, Miscellaneous School Photos and Student Lists
- School Days of Allen County, Kentucky
- School History of Kentucky; from the Earliest Discoveries and Settlements to the end of the Year 1891
- Schools of Kentucky
- Shelby County, Miscellaneous School Photos and Student Lists
- Simpson County School Districts 1 – 5 School Census, 1894
- Simpson County School Census Records, 1894-1915
- Simpson County, Miscellaneous School Photos and Student Lists
- St. Vincent Academy, Union County, Catalogue of Pupils
- Taylor County School Census Records, 1897-1935
- The Choctaw Academy
- The Class of 1941: Fulton High School Presents “Little Women”
- The History of Education of Mercer County
- The Story of Louisville Male High School
- Trigg County School Census, V. 1-3, 1894-1924
- Trigg County, Miscellaneous School Photos and Student Lists
- Trimble County School Census Reports, 1897, 1903, 1907-1922
- Trimble County, Miscellaneous School Photos and Student Lists
- Union County, Miscellaneous School Photos and Student Lists
- University of Kentucky (Lexington), Matriculate Registers, 1869-1889
- Warren County, Miscellaneous School Photos and Student Lists
- Wayne County, Miscellaneous School Photos and Student Lists
- Webster County, Miscellaneous School Photos and Student Lists
- White Sulphur, Scott County, Dick Johnson’s Indian School
Good Luck and Happy Hunting!