The first schools in Lea County were conducted in settlers’ and ranchers’ homes, where tutors or governesses were hired to educate theirs and neighboring children. When an education was not available in this manner, often the ranchers and homesteaders moved wives and children to Midland, Artesia, Roswell, or Carlsbad during the school term. Or perhaps their children boarded in these somewhat distant communities so that they could be schooled.

With the influx of settlers from about 1906 to 1910, the communities we know of today were all established, as were numerous community subscription schools. In fact, one of the first steps taken by a pioneer family--after setting up a shack or making a dugout, after stretching barbed wire around a 160-acre claim, after digging a well and plowing the required 30 acres of land--was the establishment of a neighborhood school. These schools were build with the money and sweat of local citizens. Teachers were paid at first by subscription and after statehood in 1912, with some state funding.

Typically, one teacher taught eight grades, all in one small rectangular room with a stove in the middle and a scattering of windows, benches, and other accoutrements. When these first pupils completed the eighth grade, they were given an examination sent out by the State Department of Education and returned to Santa Fe for grading. For most pupils, that eighth grade diploma was the end of their formal education.

Since schooling was conducted only when sufficient population merited it--and often for convenience’ sake--it was not unusual for a school to be moved two, three, or even four times during its existence. Some schools were created and discountiued well before 1917 when Lea County was formed. Most of the schools that existed during this period of time were under the auspices of either the Chaves or the Eddy County Board of Education, with the east-west dividing line being just north of Lovington. County school superintendents attempted to visit schools once or twice a year, but school business such as building and maintaining schoolhouses, hiring and firing teachers, and other matters were chiefly in the hands of local boards in each district.

At the time that Lea County was organized in 1917 there were thirty-six school districts in existence, part in Chaves County and part in Eddy County. The first order of business for the new Lea County Board of Education was to create four additional districts. Many of these districts contained only one small schoolhouse, but some were occupied by more than one school. These districts were numbered one through forty.

There was not an accredited high school in the county, although Lovington had maintained a high school since 1911. By arrangement with officials at Normal University in Las Vegas, pupils who could make their grades in summer school were given credit for high school work.

Education was thorough, but primitive, even after the creation of the county. Few schools had their own water supply. Water was hauled by barrel from a neighbor’s home, or two pupils would carry water in a bucket carried on a broomstick. Older pupils or the teacher would go to school early to build a fire to heat the classroom. Schools during this period of time were central to community activities. Christmas was celebrated with a Christmas tree program. There were no evergreens in the county, so people usually took a dead peach tree or mesquite, wrapped the limbs with green paper, and decorated it with strings of popcorn or colored paper. The program was at night so all the people in the community could celebrate together. Stockings with oranges, candy, nuts, or small gifts were distributed to the children by a local citizen dressed as Santa Claus.

What these early schools lacked in supplies and equipment, they made up for in fervor and spirited competition. Friday afternoons were usually devoted to spelling bees or cipher matches. Pupils debated esoteric and philosophical subjects for their parents’ enjoyment and their own pride. School buildings were not just frequented by students, parents and pupils, however, for they were the site of church services, revivals, marriages, singing conventions, potlucks, parties, and dances.

The period was characterized by spurts of growth and then periods of declining population. Nature was often cruel to the citizenry of these early communities in Lea County. To begin with, 160 acres of semi-arid land could not provide for the needs of a family. And even after the government increased the allotment to 320 acres and still later in 1917 permitted the homesteader to file on an additional 320 acres, homesteaders were hard pressed to make it. Most who homesteaded or took up relinquishments were not able to make a living, so they left the area. Other quirks of nature added to the homesteaders’ misfortunes. A severe drought in 1917 saw only 5.28 inches of rain. The following winter, January of 1918, brought a blizzard that decimated cattle and sheep and took the lives of people who could not reach shelter. World War I stripped the county of its vigorous young men, and the epidemic of influenza in 1918 took its toll of young and old alike as evidenced by cemetery markers. The only banks in the county, the First National Bank and The Territorial Bank in Lovington, closed their doors in 1920, wiping out depositors’ savings. People owing money on land or livestock were unable to pay and lost even these. Yet another drought in 1924 when only 5.19 inches of rain fell was the “last straw” for many settlers.

Needless to say, under these conditions taxes went unpaid. The financial situation became so severe that funds were unsufficient to meet the needs of the schools. By this time, not many settlers were left in the county. It was a bleak time financially for education in Lea County.

But when Lea County was carved from Chaves and Eddy Counties, school government was brought nearer to the people. Petitions were signed for the appointment of Mrs. Sarah K. Ellis as the first county school superintendent. Upon entering office she began immediately to set in motion the machinery for consolidation of schools so that pupils could remain in their own districts for three years of high school. Because distances to consolidated schools were greater than to local schools, the county board established a transportation system that worked for a while. However, the extra expense caused an economic drain on finances of settlers already plagued by drought and blizzard. So transportation in many cases was discontinued, and each family furnished its own transportation, which was often foot power.

Such was the state of public education in Lea County on the eve of the great oil discoveries in 1929 and 1930.

This period was characterized by extremely rapid growth in population due to the development of oil fields. Consequently, Lea County changed from a strictly ranching, farming, and rural region into a somewhat industrialized region. At the time of the major discovery pools, Lea Country still had only one municipal school, Lovington; all others, including Hobbs, were rural. In 1930 Hobbs became the second municipal school. All but seventeen schools were transporting pupils to larger schools. Roads were still just dirt. When rains did come, roads were often impassible. The everpresent winds eroded road beds, exposing large, sharp rocks to vulnerable bus and truck tires. Or frequently sand would fill places in the roadway and busses would become stuck in the sand.

Busses were crudely constructed, with homemade bodies and 1” x 12” boards along the sides for seats. There was no heating. Cooling consisted in opening windows when heat became unbearable. On one occasion, the County Board of Education had a complaint that the driver had delivered pupils to the school in the morning, and had then hauled a load of sheep in the truck before returning the pupils in the afternoon.

A stable economy in Lea County had to wait for the development of the oilfields, which came about in the 1930s. With economic stability came more stability in the organization of the school system, and boards were more nearly able to make long range plans for schools. Some schools literally had all the money they could spend to devote to education, due to the rich oil discoveries within their district boundaries. Also with the development of the oilfields came improvement in the roads. And with improved roads came increased consolidation of schools.

From some forty schools when the county was organized in 1917, the number dropped to seventeen by 1933. Toward the end of this period, general prosperity was being enjoyed by all the school districts. The rural school system continued through 1951. By that time, schools had been consolidated so they could be served by the five municipal schools.

The five municipal schools were all established by 1952, the final two in that year. As a result, the County School Superintendent’s office closed, and the Lea County Board of Education ceased to exist.

After nearly forty years, those five municipal schools--Tatum, Lovington, Hobbs, Eunice, and Jal--exist today as they did in 1952. These schools are governed by locally elected school boards, and generally speaking they lack for nothing in physical plants, equipment, and supplies. When compared to education elsewhere in the United States, Lea County pupils are fortunate indeed. Although the downturn in the oil and gas industry, commencing about 1983, caused each municipal school system to monitor closely its spending, it can be said that the schools in Lea County are among the finest anywhere in the nation. Teachers salaries are high, administrations enjoy a high level of confidence, and students are well schooled. The municipal school era can be characterized by a continued willingness on the part of local citizens to support local education, just as it has always been willingly supported. And Lea County schools continue to be, as they have always been. a source of great pride.

The first school to bear the Jal name was located near Jal Ranch headquarters, the Justis store, and the Texas state line. (on the Andrews Highway) It was on the land later homesteaded by Sam Wimberly and was built in the early 1900s. It was about 14’ X 18’, all one room, and had perhaps 7 or 8 children in attendance when opened. Dave Curry was the teacher.

Due to a shift in population, the first school was abandoned and another established farther west near the Buffington ranch on the present Dollarhide road. This school, a pretentious structure, was built about 1915 and the first teacher was Nola Grace Harrell. It was attended by children from the following families: Buffington, Knight, Wimberly, Justis, Eaton, Stuart, Mosley, Williams, and others from time to time. The number of children fluctuated from year to year as was only natural. At times this second school was a two-teacher school, but it continued to serve as a community center even after yet another school was established just east of the present townsite of Jal.

The third school was a white frame building erected on the hill northeast of the present location in the northeast 1/4 of S 20, T 25, R 37. It was near the southeast intersection of the east-west highway with the north-south highway. (This is in the general area of Jal Welding Works or Town & Country Convenience Store which is now located across the highway south from Jal Welding Works) It was a one-room school still in that location as late as 1928.

It was in 1929 that four of the older buildings were brought in from various locations in the country and joined together to accommodate the children of the village of Jal and vacinity. It was at this time that Mr. Winn came to Jal, and the struggle to organize and develop further the school system began. It was, also at this time that athletics first made an appearance in the scheme of things. Basketball and baseball were played by both girls and boys, and a sort of “outlaw” football team sprouted in the early thirties and was encouraged by personnel of the newly organized El Paso Natural Gas Company. The simple frame building was added on to from time to time and other smaller buildings were built nearby until the rocky hill seemed covered.

In 1935 the Jal School system came into the hands of a man who possessed boundless energy and an abiding faith in the future of the struggling community....Dr. Jenie Lee (J.L.) Burke. He became the superintendent of schools there from 1935 to 1962.

The first brick building at Jal included four classrooms, a library-study hall equal to one and two-thirds classrooms, office space for the superintendent, an office and book storage for each principal, and a gymnasium-auditorium. The building was put into service in September 1936, but a fire in April of 1941 destroyed the gymnasium-auditorium area.

When Dr. Burke began at Jal in 1935, he found the attention centered on the eighth grade graduation exercises. Those who finished the eleventh grade were honored, but they were required to go elsewhere for a year, to an accredited high school, in order to graduate. According to reports, Burke assembled the 190 youngsters the first day of school in the Rex Theater, and outlined his discipline policy and other matters. He asked all present to join him in making Jal the best small community school around. One of this first goals was to arrange for provisional accrediting of a regular four-year high school course.

Jal was one of the last three Lea County Rural Schools. The other two were Eunice and Monument. When the State Board of Education placed Monument under the jurisdiction of the Hobbs Municipal Board, this left only Jal and Eunice under the direction of the Lea County Board of Education. This ended the Lea Country Rural Schools.

Early patrons included the Stewart, Knight, Winters, Whitworth, Hair, Robinson, Goedeke, Andrews, Beckham, and Major Humphreys families Today Jal Municipal School is one of the outstanding systems in the state.

Teachers in the earlier Jal schools have included:

1915 Nola Grace Harrell * 1918-1919 Martha Woolworth * 1919-1920 Martha Woolworth * 1920-1921 Bessye Black, principal Amanda Carson * 1921-1922 Susie Zimmerman * 1923-1924 Esther Matkins * 1924-1925 Esther Matkins * 1927-1928 Ora Mae Medlin $100, 8 months * 1928-1929 Ora Mae Medlin $110, 8 months * 1929-1930 Ora Mae Medlin $110, 9 months Alda Mae Weaver, $110, 9 months S.M. Winn, $125, 9 months Mrs. Amy Winn, $100, 9 months * 1930-1931 Ora Mae Medlin Alda Mae Weaver, S.M. Winn, Ruth E. Fuqua, emergency teacher * 1931-1932 S.H. Winn, Alda Mae Weaver, Mrs. Amy Winn, Mrs. J.A. Drexel, Miss Thelma Perkins, emergency teacher * 1932-1933 S.H. Wunn, Mrs. Amy Winn ,Alda Mae Weaver, Mrs. J.A. Drexel ,Thelma Perkins * 1933-1934 J.L. McCrory, principal (replaced Ross Owen) Louise Alston, Mrs. J.A. Drexel, Alda Mae (Weaver) Slaymire, Thelma (Perkins) Cowden, 1934-1935 J.L. McCrory, principal (replaced by W.J. Pointer during year) Mrs. J.A. Drexel, Louise Alston, high school; Miss Bessie Ross, 1st and 2nd; Mrs. Henry (hired on emergency basis in January) ;Bernard Love (resigned in January) ;Charles Trumbull (to replace Love and serve as principal of grades) * 1935-1936 J.L. Burke, superintendent ;Odie Ludlow, high school principal; Ben Lawrence, grade principal ;Glenna Keller, Ruth Carmichael ,Mrs. C.C. Henry, Bessie Ross, Mrs. W.D. Stafford, Alma Lee Caudle, Mrs. Mae Denny (her first year, she taught until 1967) , Loraine Fellers, Addie Hope Parker, Leona Brown (high school) * 1936-1937 J.L. Burke, superintendent, $3,000; K.B. Walker, high school principal; Ben Lawrence, grade school principal; Miss. Glenna Keller, high school; Mrs. Virginia J. Wilson, high school; Mrs. C.C. Henry, grades; Mrs. W.D. Stafford, grades; Mrs. Mae Denny, grades; Mrs. Lula Doran, grades; Miss. Addie Hope Parker (provisional); Miss Alma Lee Caudle (provisional); Miss Ruth Carmichael (provisional); Mr. Joe Smith (employed in July); Mr. R.L. Myers (employed September); Miss Louise Creed (employed September)

Other teachers included Charles Brown, Lila T. Brown, Sarah Rebecca Smith, Miss. Rowena Hulse, Miss. Stella Sullivan, Miss Catharine Taylor, Miss. Neva Blanche Rogers, Mrs. Corinne Recer, Mrs. Joyce Burke, and Mrs. Gwendolyn Marshall.

There was a school on the Buffington ranch (southwest corner) in 1914 or 1915. Nola Grace Harrell, a cousin of the Buffingtons, was the teacher, as were two young ladies from Carlsbad, Nettie and Mary Vaughn. Teachers lived at the Buffington home and were paid by subscription at first. Nothing more is known of this early school.

Cooper school was in a community located 8 miles north and 2 miles west of Jal. In the summer of 1912, the settlers built a school house on land homesteaded by Sam Cooper. The lumber to build it came from Pecos, TX. The Coopers and their neighbors made do with “home teaching” until, by pooling their few dollars, they were able to afford lumber for the school. The school was located in the NW 1/4 of Section 23, Township 24 South, Range 36 East.

Water was brought in a bucket from the Cooper well until a barrel with one dipper solved that problem. There was no stove, and on very cold days pupils studied outside around a fire and went inside only to recite. Presumably, the teacher just endured. Proceeds from pie suppers, cake walks, and donations bought a stove, and it was put up Thanksgiving Day. Mrs. Will Harrison, who had several children in attendance, fixed a good dinner for all, which she brought five miles by wagon. There were no desks, just planks on kegs or boxes for seats and other boxes for desks. Even the teacher sat on a box. Later, money-making projects bought desks and other necessities.

Miss Edith Davis was the first teacher and she taught at the school for three years. She, two sisters, and a brother rode horse back from her father’s home six miles east of the school. She was never absent nor tardy regardless of the weather the three years she taught. Her pupils were ages 6-18.

Teachers included: 1912-1914 Miss Edith David *1917-1918 Jennie L. Henderson *1918-1919 Linna McCaw *1919-1920 Florence Bales *1920-1921 Sadie McCaw $137 per month *1921-1922 Mary Doss, Ruth Medlin (1922-1923 Eunice Lovett, Mrs. N.E. Jackson *1923-1924 Mr. I.V. Manly, Emma Caraway *1924-1925 Lillian Bilbrey *1925-1926 Ethel Travis *1926-1927 Miss Eula Bass *1928-1929 Sivolah Bass $80 per month *1929-1930 Mrs Fowler (Elsie) Hair $110 per month, 8 months *1931-1932 Miss Flora Farnsworth

From about 1920-1923, as a result of the drought and severe freeze, many families left the area and the Jal School closed. Some of those students attended Cooper. Clarence Easton drove a Model-T to take his children and the Knight girls to Cooper.

Settlers in the Cooper community were: Toby Harrison, Fowler Hair, Gerrald Hair, Thomas Knight, Black Coats, Whitten, Whithers, Woolworth, Acuff, Hunter, Johnson, Ward, Combest, Curry, Langford, Callison, Davis, Dinwiddie, Eaton, Smith, and five families of Coopers.

Custer Mountain school was established by Henry Chance and Henry Croft, Chance’s father-in-law. (Originally this school was to have been called Pleasant Valley--but not to be confused with another pioneer school near Monument by the same name)--as was the little church that these families constructed. In addition to those two names, the school was also called Mims and Fightin’ Holler. Mr Mims, whose family lived in the area, “laid claim” to the land on which the little school sat. Without consulting with anyone else, he apparently renamed the school Mims. Some sources say he went to Carlsbad to the courthouse (the school was then in Eddy County) and had the name changed legally. Other sources say that it was Mr. Mims himself who had the school built according to his own specifications, which dissatisfied some other residents. Still others suggest that the whole problem was over the naming of the school--whether it should be Mims or Pleasant Valley as originally planned. Whatever the real reason for the discord, the resultant fighting in the area led to the moniker Fightin’ Holler, but the official name of the school was Custer Mountain.

The Custer Mountain school was located about 8 miles west of Jal. It was one of the one-room schools existing within the area of Cooper District No. 32, Eddy County. When Lea County was organized in 1917, the Lea County Board of Education divided the Cooper district into three parts: Cooper District No. 18; Ochoa District No. 38; Custer Mountain District No. 39 and each with its own local directions.

Then April 15, 1918, the Lea County Board of Education consolidated the three schools for purposes of establishing a rural high school at Cooper with pupils transported from outlying areas.

In 1917-1918, Hal Medlin’s daughters (one of whom was Ora) rode horseback to this school. Eleanor Gardner was the teacher, and at that time the school was known as Fightin’ Holler school. Other students were from the following families: Dinwiddie, Winchester, Croft, Mims, Price, and Dillard. The precise location of the school was in Section 9, Township 25 South, Range 36 East, on property now owned by Jiggs Dinwiddie.

On December 1, 1919, the Board ordered that $280 of the defunct Custer Mountain funds be transferred to the maintenance fund of District No. 19, Jal, for the purpose of meeting transportation expenses of Mr. Beckham for a term of eight months (and that the remainder of the funds of District No. 39 be transferred to the general funds). On October 11, 1920, Custer Mountain was abolished and became part of the Cooper District. I

n the spirit of the Old West, local ranchers occasionally enjoyed a game of poker at the school house, and reportedly three graves are also in the school yard. They are said to have been a two-year-old, a 17 or 18 year old male, and a middle-aged woman. This school was closed during the depression, if not before, and pupils from that area began to attend school in Cooper or in the growing town of Jal.

Ochoa school (commonly pronounced ocho) was located on the southeast corner of the San Simon ranch about 15 miles west and five miles north of Jal. Several possible sources for the name have been suggested: (1) that the school was named after the community of Ochoa, Texas; (2) that it was the surname of a family who settled there in relatively modern times; and (3) that it was named by a local storekeeper, Mr. Wilmoth, after the Spanish word for eight, which is ocho. Whatever the case, the little school was one of those operating in Eddy County within the area covered by Cooper District No. 32. The first Lea County Board of Education divided the Cooper district into three parts: Cooper (District No. 18), Ochoa (District No. 38), and Custer Mountain (District No. 39).

The Ochoa school was located in E 1/2 of S 26, T 24, R 34, and its district boundaries were: Beginning at the northeast corner of Section 3, Township 24 South, Range 35 East, and extending west twenty-two miles along the township lines to the northwest corner of Section 6, Township 24 South, Range 32 East, thence south twelve miles along the Lea County west line to the southeast corner of Section 24, Township 25 South, Range 35 East, thence north twelve miles along section lines to the point of beginning.

Ochoa school was operating when the J.R. Alexander family moved there in 1915. (In fact, the record shows that the school was called Alexander school in 1919-1920.) Mrs. Rilla Jane (Alexander) McAuley of Hobbs (90 at this writing) was one of the Alexander daughters who attended Ochoa school. Other Alexander children were Connie, Ted, J.D., Nell, Frona, and Roscoe. Lump Wood’s children who attended were Violet, Joda, Chloe, Clifford, and R.M. The Brininstools who attended were Joyce, Carl, and W. H. (Bill). In addition, there were two Pearson boys and Ora Mae and other Medlin children.

Willie Henry, J.H. Medlin, and J.R. Alexander were appointed to serve as interim directors in 1919.

Teachers included the following:

1918-1919 Lytie Woolworth, Mrs. Bob Williams *1919-1920 Mattie Gilham *1920-1921 Martha Woolworth, John Hair *1921-1922 Martha Woolworth, Emma Caraway *1922-1923 Vera Bigby, Ruth Medlin *1923-1924 Mary E. Barnes *1924-1925 Ora Mae Medlin *1925-1926 Barbara Lee Forrester *1927-1928 Barbara Lee Forrester $110 per month, 8 months *1928-1929 Grace Fairweather $80 per month *1931 Mrs. Sarah Holmes *1932 Mrs. Sarah Holmes *1933 Mrs. Sarah Holmes *1934 Mrs. Sarah (Holmes) Young (resigned mid-term), Mrs. Russell Jones *1935-1936 Mrs. Russell Jones

As with most other pioneer schools, the building at Ochoa doubled as community center and church. An item from a local newspaper entitled “Ochoa Happenings”, states that Reverend E.M. Beck “filled his regular appointment at Ochoa Saturday night and Sunday. He had a large crowd and dinner on the ground. A singing school conducted by Mr. J.W. Holland was held at the Ochoa school for 20 days in the summer, circa 1921.

Beginning in 1936 people from Ochoa attended Jal Schools. As with several other schools, Ochoa succumbed during the depression. The children who were attending the school became bus riders to Jal when there were enough in number to merit a bus or the distance was not too great to make bus riding impractical. A few former students, Joyce, Carl and W.H. (Bill, Red) Brininstool, boarded in Jal. The Pearson boys drove an old Ford in good weather and stayed in town when necessary.

In March of 1941, the board sold the two Ochoa buildings to Mrs. Earl Goedeke of Jal for $125.00, his being the highest bidder. Then, in July of 1944, the Lea County Board of Education voted to combine Ochoa with Jal.

Out in the deep sand country about 8 miles northwest of Ochoa was a rural school which by all rights could have been called either Brininstool or Pearson (as most of the children attending it seemed to have those names), but instead it bore the soft-sounding Spanish name of San Simon. It as named for the large ranch which exists north of this pioneer school site. The school was located in Section 36, Township 23 South, Range 36 East, on the south half of the old San Simon ranch on land inherited by Lawrence Merchant.

Two of the early teachers at San Simon were Barbara Lee Forrester and Rose Scheure, although their teaching terms are not known. An undated photograph exists showing Rose Scheure as the teacher with the following students at the school: Alvin Pearson, John Scheure, Joyce Brininstool, Calvin Pearson, Carl Brininstool, Billy Brininstool, and Rubert Pearson.

One source states that Carl Brininstool and Joe and Elsie Cooper worked very hard to get the little school ready to open in the fall of 1924, but other documentation indicates that the school opened with the 1919-1920 term with one teacher, whose name is not known. Rose Brininstool reportedly taught at the school for a term, but this has not been documented.

Teachers included:

1920-1921 Mayna Adams *1921-1922 Ella Cook *1925-1926 Eula Mae Bass (Marley) *1926-1927 Violet (Wood) Hite 8 month term *1927-1928 Mr. Vester Hill *1928-1929 Bertha Forrester $110 per month *1929-1930 Bertram Bird Barnes $110 per month, 8 months *1931 Mrs. Charles Stoneman *1932 Bessie Ross *1933 Bessie Ross 1934 Mrs. Sarah Holmes Young *1935 Mrs. Sarah Young

With the development of the oil industry, the Jal school system developed into a well organized 12-year system with sports and band facilities, so pupils from neighboring one-room schools of San Simon, Ochoa, and Cooper transferred to the Jal School.