The UCLA Lab School traces its origins to the fall of 1882, when the California State Normal School opened its doors on the site of today’s Central Library in downtown Los Angeles. The Normal School, devoted to teacher education, included the children’s school that eventually became University Elementary School. In 1919, the University of California regents approved the establishment of the “Southern Branch of the University of California,” a two-year college located at the Normal School. The college expanded and officially became UCLA in 1927.