Eastern High School (Louisville, Kentucky)

Eastern opened in 1950 on its present site in Middletown. The library was later added to the front of the school, giving the building a layout in the shape of the letter "E". The school has been part of the Jefferson County school system since before the county system aborted the old Louisville city school system. The school was co-educational from its start and was integrated long before busing was ordered in Jefferson County.

Court-ordered busing began in Louisville and Jefferson County schools in 1975. As the 1975 school year began, 900 National Guard troops were sent to Jefferson County schools by the Governor of Kentucky, Julian Carroll, at the request of the Louisville mayor Harvey I. Sloane and the Jefferson County judge-executive, Todd Hollenbach. Several anti-busing riots occurred elsewhere in Jefferson County. Eastern saw some protests against busing but was relatively tranquil because the school was already desegregated.

In 2009, James A. Sexton, principal at Eastern for 20 years, retired. His place was taken by Lana Kaelin.

Eastern has been repeatedly ranked in the top 1,300 high schools in the United States by Newsweek.[2]

Eastern offers varsity and junior varsity teams in baseball, basketball, cheer-leading, chess, cross country, field hockey, American football, golf, ice hockey, rifle, cardboard sword fighting, lacrosse, ping pong, softball, soccer, swimming, track and field, tennis, colorguard/winterguard, marching band, volleyball and wrestling. Within the past decade Eastern has won state championships in girls' track as well as boys' soccer. The James A. Sexton athletic complex, which includes a football, baseball, softball, soccer and field hockey field, as well as tennis courts, is regarded as the best in the city of Louisville.

The boys' basketball team was the state runner-up in 1957, losing the championship game to Lexington Lafayette 55-52. In 1997 Eastern's boys basketball team won the state championship & finished the season with a 35-2 record. In 2003 and 2006, the boys' basketball team won the Louisville Invitational Tournament (LIT).

In the 2008–2009 season, the boys' basketball team won the LIT and reached the Elite Eight in the state tournament, losing to Central High School of Louisville.

The girls' track team has won nine state championships (most recently in 2006) and has been the state runner-up six times. The boys' track team won the state championship in 1990 and has been the state runner-up five times.

The boys' cross country team has been third at state level twice, most recently in 2016.

The boys' soccer team won the state championship in 1996.

Eastern has won several state tennis championships and won the 1955 state golf championship.

Eastern has won the state chess titles three times, the last in 1989.

Eastern's wrestling team has been the state runner-up twice, in 1979 and 1993.

Eastern's cheerleading team was second in the NCA High School Cheerleading Championship in 2004.

The volleyball team has been repeatedly ranked second in the state for public schools for a couple of years now.

The boys' lacrosse team was runner-up in Division II Lacrosse in 2007 and won state in Division II Lacrosse in 2008

Eastern's ice hockey team finished third in the 2009, 2010 and 2012 state tournaments.

The football team represents Eastern High School in the Kentucky High School Athletic Association. They play their home games at Eagle Field in Middletown.

The basketball team has made many state appearances, most recently in 2008–09 and 2010–11 years. In 2011, ranking in the top 15 in the country, the Eastern Eagles reached the final four, losing by 2 points in the last seconds of the game to Christian Co. In 1997, the boys' team won the state title.

Eastern is the only school within the Jefferson County Public Schools to offer ballroom dancing classes, Japanese as a language course, and has 36 different technology classes.

• Ned Beatty, class of 1955, award-winning character actor
• John Cowan, musician, currently a member of the Doobie Brothers
• Hugh Durham, class of 1955, former head basketball coach at the University of Georgia
• Ashley Eicher, class of 1998, 2004 Miss Tennessee
• Colin Holba, class of 2013, NFL long snapper
• Carroll Hubbard, class of 1955, former member of the United States House of Representatives
• Nate Morris, Founder and CEO of Rubicon Global
• Myron Pryor, class of 2004, football player for the University of Kentucky and New England Patriots
• Rajon Rondo, attended until junior year, NBA point guard for the Los Angeles Lakers
• Felton Spencer, class of 1986, former NBA basketball player for the Minnesota Timberwolves, Utah Jazz, Orlando Magic and San Antonio Spurs; 6th overall pick in the 1990 NBA draft
• William S. Wallace, class of 1965, a four-star general in the United States Army, commanded all U.S. forces during the 2003 invasion of Iraq
• Todd Wellemeyer, class of 1997, Major League baseball player

• Public schools in Louisville, Kentucky

• Eastern High School website