Albert S. Brandeis Elementary School

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Albert S. Brandeis Elementary School is a historic former school in Louisville, Kentucky. It opened in 1913 and sits on a city block between the Parkland and California neighborhoods. The brick building was designed by architect J. Earl Henry in Tudor Revival style and patterned after Charlton House in England. Its tall, decorative gabled entrance carries the letters L.P.S.—Louisville Public School.

The school was built during a time when Louisville created a more balanced, city-wide school system. It was named after Albert S. Brandeis, one of the founders of the Louisville Board of Education. The building is about 2½ stories with a raised basement; it had distinctive first- and second-floor windows and a back addition added in 1954. In 1962, the original windows were replaced with steel-frame vent windows.

In fall 1990, Brandeis became Louisville’s first elementary math/science/technology magnet school. Because the old building was too small and costly to maintain, the district moved Brandeis to a new site a few blocks away, completing the move in 1992. The old building was sold to the city in 1993.

Afterward, the property was used for meetings, and a daycare behind the school opened in 1995. The building later fell into disrepair, and in 1996 it was converted into 50 private apartments by a nonprofit group, New Directions Housing Corporation—the same group that has transformed other local schools into housing.

Today, the Brandeis building is a neighborhood landmark. The site now houses 50 apartments, an after-school learning center, and a community garden. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.