Lapel High School

Lapel's first school was a small one-room framed school located on Pendleton Avenue at the east edge of town. A new school was built on the Studley farm in 1874. It was known as the Studley School and later became known as the White School.

In 1890, Township Trustee James M. Anderson built a two-room brick school northwest of the framed schoolhouse. A committee consisting of James Anderson, Dr. B. Davis, and Arthur Woodward wrote the tax levy to fund the school.

In 1899 a site at the north edge of town was bought from George W. Wright and an eight-room school building was erected. A. Johnson Shetterly was trustee at this time, and the first superintendent was E.L. Holton, with Rufus A. Hoover serving as the first Principal. School board members were E.G. Huffman, president; William Woodward and R.S. Wilson.

In 1912, a substantial addition, including a gymnasium and six new classrooms were built. There were then all of the advantages of a modern city school system, with manual training, a domestic science department, and special courses in music and art. The township at this time had two-fifths interest in the school, and it was then that the brick (Alfred) school at Fishersburg was torn down; some of the material from the Fishersburg School was used in the new addition. Since that time children from Fishersburg have attended Lapel schools.

In 1924, with Ward O. Shetterly, Trustee, additional remodeling and new construction were undertaken. The old gymnasium was converted into a new domestic science and manual training unit. A new gym, assembly room, and classrooms were built.

In 1954, the school located on state road # 13 was first used. However, it was used only for commencement ceremonies for the graduating class of 1954. The first complete school year in this building wasn't until 1954-55.

In 1957, Lapel School was evaluated and admitted as a member of the North Central Association of Schools and Colleges. The school year of 1972-73 brought another change. Lapel Schools consolidated with Frankton Schools to form the West Central Community School Corporation.

Later, additions to the facility were completed. The first addition was a ten-room elementary section. The athletic building was completed at the west end of the parking lot in 1975. In 1976 a building was constructed to house the band and music programs. This same year another facility was constructed to house the kindergarten. In 1979, six new classrooms were added to the elementary. In 1988, a large remodeling project was started which considerably enlarged the building and permitted the elementary to become a separate school. The West Central Community School Corporation name was changed to Frankton-Lapel Community Schools in 1999. In 2000 the internal facilities of the school were remodeled which included air conditioning the entire building.

The decision to build a new high school was based on the existing over-crowdedness as well as the prediction of substantial growth in the community and the school over the next few years. In October, 2005, a groundbreaking ceremony took place to kick-off the beginning of the new high school. This new facility was built on the corner of 900 West and 200 South, with the front of the building facing State Road 32. The first day in the new building for the faculty/staff was January 7, 2008. The first day for the students to attend this new high school was January 8, 2008. The first graduation to take place in the new Lapel High School was on May 31, 2008. At present, Lapel High School serves approximately 400 students in grades nine through twelve.