Leavenworth High School was established in 1865, making it one of the first high schools in Kansas. Students admitted from "graded" schools to the "higher" courses (hence, high school) studied Latin, Math, Rhetoric, Science, Caesar and Virgil like their counterparts from the East Coast.
The first building to house the high school was a renovated church. In 1904 the taxpayers of Leavenworth authorized a new building for the high school at the corner of 4th and Chestnut. In 1932 the building was destroyed by fire. A new building was soon erected at the same site in time to begin classes in the fall of 1933.
When the high school was moved to its present site at 2012 Tenth Avenue in 1959, the old building became East Junior High School. In 1990 the high school was renovated and changed from a campus style to the present layout. Although Latin and Virgil are no longer offered at LHS, students currently choose from over one hundred other course offerings.