The public schools of Ouachita Parish can proudly trace their origin back to the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. The present site of the Ouachita Parish School Board offices was dedicated for school purposes by Commandant Don Juan Filhiol in 1805. Known only as Fort Miro until 1819, the ground allotted for public buildings also included the current site of the Ouachita Parish Courthouse and Police Jury offices. The original school was established October 1, 1811 on the banks of the Ouachita River.

In September, 1877, the City of Monroe passed an ordinance creating a public school system for the city. The city operated separate schools for boys and girls. In 1889, a girls' and boys' school was opened in a three room frame building with Mr. C. E. Byrd as principal. In the fall of 1890 the parish and city opened a consolidated school on the South Grand location known as the Ouachita Parish Central and High School. At the meeting of the Ouachita Parish School Board on July 7, 1894, it unanimously adopted a resolution to establish Ouachita Parish High School. In the spring of 1894, the City Council of Monroe withdrew the city school committee from its association with the parish school committee. Mr. Uriah Millsaps served as the first parish superintendent.