Nelson County Schools

About Us

Nelson County School District serves nearly 5,000 children in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade in 12 schools on eight campuses scattered throughout the county. The school district is the largest of three systems in this county and encompasses nearly 423 square miles. The rapidly growing system opened a new high school for the 2012-2013 school year and has finished renovating and expanding one elementary school. A centralized preschool opened for the 2011-2012 school year.

The new Thomas Nelson High School was built on a 100-plus acre campus on the west side of KY 245 near Flaget Memorial Hospital. The new school’s namesake, Brigadier General Thomas Nelson Jr., was a signer of the Declaration of Independence and was elected to fill George Washington’s seat in the Second Continental Congress when Washington left to assume command of the Continental Army. In 1781, Nelson was elected to succeed Thomas Jefferson as governor of Virginia and held that office when Nelson County was formed in 1784. During the Revolutionary War, Nelson commanded the Virginia militia and was in charge of Virginia troops during the Battle of Yorktown, a decisive American victory and the last major battle of the war.

Other recent additions to the school system include a new central office facility and Horizons Academy, an alternative school. The academy, housed in a state-of-the-art facility adjacent to the new central office building, is designed to meet the needs of at-risk students having trouble succeeding in the regular school environment.

In addition to a tuition-based preschool program, the