Cople High School was a consolidated rural school which was housed in a one story concrete block building. It was constructed in 1920. The school was planned to take the place of Kinsale High School which was destroyed by fire. There was only one other school in the district, a two-room school at Kinsale. The Cople High School cost $35,000 to build.
Mr. J.J. Hundley, the first principal, was assisted by six teachers. The total enrollment of the school, when organized, was 140, twenty six of these in the high school.
Vocational-Agricultural was established in 1932 with Mr. Herbert Adams, as instructor, dividing his time with Washington-Lee High School. His morning was at Washington-Lee at Montross and the afternoon at Hague. Beginning in 1938 each school had its own instructor.
Home Economics became a part of the curriculum in 1937 with Miss Minnie Byrd Healy as instructor.
This was the only black high school in the county during the early 1900s'. It was organized in 1930 using something of a makeshift building near Hague. While located there it was known as Potomac High School. Professor T. A. Lemon, M.A., was the first principal of the Potomac School.
A one-story brick building was constructed in 1937 near Templemans Cross Roads, east of Montross. This school was know as A. T. Johnson HIgh School, and replaced Potomac High School. This building was constructed at a cost of $23,000.
Vocational Agricultural curriculum was added in 1937. C.P. Hazzard was the first principal.
Elba School was built around the turn of the 19th century. The school provided first through sixth grade education to children living in the area of Oldhams. The school was located just west of the intersection of Oldhams Road (route 206) and Sandy Point Road (route 604). The typical population of the students numbered from as few as six to as many as two dozen or so for all grades.
Children, as well as most teachers, walked to Elba from surrounding farms and residences. During the school's service as part of the Westmoreland County School system, there was no bus service available to the children or teachers. Teachers who lived in the nearby port of Kinsale took advantage of the Cople School's "bus-truck", that would stop at English's Store, about a half-mile from Elba. The "bus-truck" had an enclosed truck bed, no windows, open at the rear, with benches along each side and down the center to seat passengers.
The small school building was simple in design, but it provided an essential and far reaching service to teach local students.
The students sat a double desks. Generally higher grade students were seated with the lower grade students. Students were taught arithmetic, reading, history, geography, spelling, and writing. School hours were generally 9:00AM until 3:30PM from the first of October through the early days of May.
Reverend William W. Walker-------------------1871-1873
Colonel Thomas Brown-------------------------1873-1877
Willoughby Newton Brown----------------------1877-1878
Reverend Wilbur Davis------------------------1878-1882
Reverend H. H. Fones-------------------------1882-1886
T. Hunter, Jr.--------------------------------1886-1905
Thomas Brown---------------------------------1905-1909
George W. Murphy-----------------------------1909-1913
Blake T. Newton------------------------------1913-1954
Robert T. Ryland-----------------------------1954-1966
James V. Law---------------------------------1966-1969
Bruce Chandler-------------------------------1969-1972
S. M. Haga-----------------------------------1972-1975
Charles Pierce-------------------------------1975-1992
Larry Hixon----------------------------------1992-1999
George Ortman--------------------------------1999-2001
Larry E. Hixson, Ed.D.-----------------------2001-3004
.
A. Elaine Fogliani, Ph.D. 2004-Present
