Central School, District 31, (sometimes called Live Oak) was 10 miles west and 1/2 mile north of the Glen Cove Road.  It had one long room running north and south.  It had a stage across the north end and double doors in the south end.  It was heated by a large wood heater and it was cooled by opening the doors and windows and cardboard fans that you ran by hand.  Most kids had to pick cotton till October or November before they could start and they would go until April or May and they usually ran out of money and had to close early.  Teachers made from $40 to $75 a month and usually went six months.  They would board with some of the parents for $5 or $10 a month.  There was another room built at an “L” shape and it was smaller.  Sometimes they would have two teachers, but most of the time there was only one and they wouldn’t use that other room.  It had a little room to put the organ in.  They needed the organ because they had a singing there each Sunday night.  The different church groups would have preaching there and sometimes they would have parties.

The first school I knew about was 1912.  The teacher was George Smith, later was County Tax Assessor and County Clerk.  He had maybe 50 or 60 pupils and taught all the grades.  Other teachers were W. E. Schudder, Mary Graham and Gula L. Pool.  Some of the trustees were C. W. Campbell, E. V. Thompson, J. N. Needham, Berry Bishop, A. C. Jackson and G. H. Webb.  Miss Mamie Baize taught in 1915 and John Brannon the next term.  He had about twenty pupils.  The last year at Central was 1918 and Mrs. Ernest (Eva) Coursey was the teacher and we had eleven pupils; four Strange girls, three Strickland kids, two Tune kids, Ollie Futrell and Ovilee White.  They consolidated with Shady Grove in 1919 and formed New Central School.