The exact page text, read by your browser's voice.
East Allen County Schools, 14600 Amstutz Road, Leo; grades seven through twelve; township school from 1902, present building opened 1954
Origins: Leo's school is older than its district and older than its building. County records list a Leo grade and high school in Cedar Creek Township by 1897 to 1898, with Calvin H. Brown as principal, and the school's own history dates its beginnings to an original public high school built in 1902 at Hosler Road and Wayne Street. A new elementary building and a first gymnasium followed between 1930 and 1954. By 1952 to 1953 the township school was listed as the Cedar Creek Township Consolidated School, with high school enrollment of 148 and principal Russell Steiner, and by 1957 to 1958 as Leo High School, with 224 pupils. No separate Grabill high school stands in those directories: Leo was the township high school for Leo-Cedarville and Grabill alike, and the present school is its continuation on a new site.
The District: East Allen County Schools states in its own documents that it was formally organized in 1962, covering the eastern half of Allen County, eleven townships and about 344 square miles. The operating record runs slightly later. A Ball State University study of May 1965 already treats the corporation as operating in the 1964 to 1965 school year, and the district's superintendent list begins with Dr. Paul Harding in 1964. Both dates are printed here because both are in the record: organized 1962, operating from 1964.
The Building: The Amstutz Road building is dated 1953 in the Journal Gazette facilities list and 1954 in the Ball State study and in the school's own history, which describes the new Leo Junior Senior High School opening on its current site in 1954. As built it had total capacity of 433, a figure enrollment passed at once: the 1965 study counted 477 pupils in grades seven through twelve. Wings came in 1968. An expansion in 1981 to 1983 built the current gym, auditoria, offices and west facade, and work in 2000 to 2001 added main offices, a lobby and a weight room. A turf football field arrived in 2018. The newest piece is a 34,000 square foot fieldhouse with three courts, batting cages and a track, dedicated on October 7, 2026.
Growth: The enrollment arc runs from 148 high school pupils in 1952 to 1953, to 224 in 1957 to 1958, to 477 across grades seven through twelve in 1964 to 1965. The modern school peaked at 1,416 students in 2018 to 2019 and has eased since, to 1,328 in 2024 to 2025, a decline of about five percent over five years.
Athletics: The Lions play in the Northeast Eight Conference, which Leo joined in 2015 after leaving the Allen County Athletic Conference. Leo's landmark is softball. The IHSAA records the Lions' Class 3A state championship in 2014, a 2 to 0 defeat of Gibson Southern under coach Ben Shappell at 27 and 6, and the association's report called it the school's first state championship in any sport, won behind pitcher Lindsey Bowers. Gibson Southern reversed the result in the 2015 final, 5 to 3, and Leo was Class 4A runner up in 2019, losing 1 to 0 to Center Grove.
Today: The campus now runs under two administrations sharing the Amstutz Road address: Chad Houser is principal of Leo High School and Dr. Katie Metz is principal of Leo Junior High School. The Leo music department received the Indiana State School Music Association All-Music Award for 2023 to 2024, its seventh year with the honor, and the Leo band advanced to semi-state in the fall of 2025.
Sources:
- Leo High School, "Leo High School Through the Years 1902 to 2026," October 9, 2026: the 1902 school, 1954 opening and later building campaigns.
- Ball State University study of the East Allen County Schools, May 1965: the operating district, construction date, capacity and enrollment.
- East Allen County Schools, School Bus Replacement Plan and Board minutes, 2024 to 2026: organization in 1962, the All-Music Award, the fieldhouse and principals.
- Directories of Allen County Schools, 1952 to 1953 and 1957 to 1958, and Genealogical Society One-Room School Records: the township listings and Calvin H. Brown.
- Indiana High School Athletic Association, Softball Records Book and finals reports: the 2014 title and runner up finishes.
- National Center for Education Statistics, Leo Junior/Senior High School (180285000349): 1,328 students, 2024 to 2025.
- Weigand Construction and WBCL, October 2026: the fieldhouse and its dedication.