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Kirkwood High School (KHS) has a long, rich history that dates back to the founding of the Kirkwood School District in 1865. In 1865, the district rented space for Black high school and elementary students in a temporary building at Geyer and Adams. Later, in the Jefferson Avenue school, the District’s first formal school was opened in 1869. Night schools classes for adults were added in 1874-75. In 1888, the district built the Adams Avenue School next to the Jefferson School and offered a two-year high school program for students completing the elementary grades.

Richard Hudlin, who later became Clayton's first postmaster, was hired as the school's first Black teacher in 1878 and became principal in 1879. The school was named Booker T. Washington Elementary School in 1908 and was demolished in 1914. Portable buildings were erected to replace it.

The school closed in 1950 and its students were sent to James Milton Turner School. Some parents protested and tried to enroll their children at white schools; later in the year they brought suit against the Kirkwood School District because it failed to provide equal facilities.