Editing Cooper, Texas (section)

==Education==
{{see also|History of East Texas Normal College}}
[[File:Original Cooper Campus (ETNC).jpg|thumb|right|East Texas Normal College (now known as [[Texas A&M University–Commerce]]) was located in Cooper from 1889 until 1894, when the campus (pictured here in 1890) was destroyed in a fire.|alt=A college building in 1890]]

Delta County has historically been advanced in education. Around the time that Cooper and the county were founded, nine churches were already in the county. By 1880, that number had increased to nearly 30. A combined 998 students attended those schools, which operated 4½ months a year. In 1889, East Texas Normal College was founded in Cooper. The school did very well while located in Cooper, but the college moved to Commerce after the campus was destroyed in a fire in 1894. The school was later renamed East Texas State University, then [[Texas A&M University–Commerce]].<ref name="Delta County"/> In 1896, Cooper reported to have one successful school located within the city proper.<ref name="Cooper TSHA"/>

Schools were important during the 1940s, as they became the local activity centers. In the early 1940s, there were 34 common schools and six independent school districts within Delta County. These schools employed 134 people and had a combined total of 4,000 students enrolled. Cooper, along with Pecan Gap and Enloe, offered a four-year high school program. Late in the 1940s, with the help of state taxes on transportation, the schools and districts began to consolidate. In 1966, Cooper had two elementary schools, a junior high school, and a high school.<ref name="Delta County"/>

The [[Cooper Independent School District]] (Cooper ISD) currently{{when|date=March 2024}} operates the schools that serve Cooper. Cooper ISD covers the majority of Delta County, except for the community of [[Lake Creek, Texas|Lake Creek]], which is located within the jurisdiction of [[Chisum Independent School District|Chisum ISD]], and the communities of [[Pecan Gap, Texas|Pecan Gap]] and [[Ben Franklin, Texas|Ben Franklin]], which are located within [[Fannindel Independent School District|Fannindel ISD]].<ref>{{cite map |cartography=Texas Education Agency GIS department |publisher=[[Texas Education Agency]] |url=http://wgisprd.tea.state.tx.us/sdl/# |title=School District Locator |date=January 2, 2013 |edition=2013 |access-date=February 16, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101101052708/http://wgisprd.tea.state.tx.us/SDL/ |archive-date=November 1, 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref> There are currently only three schools under the jurisdiction of Cooper ISD, all three of which are located within Cooper proper. The schools are Cooper Elementary School,<ref>{{cite web |publisher=[[Cooper Independent School District]] |url=http://www.cooperisd.net/MP.cfm?P=480 |title=Cooper Elementary School  |access-date=February 16, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120918145715/http://www.cooperisd.net/MP.cfm?P=480 |archive-date=September 18, 2012 }}</ref> Cooper Junior High School,<ref>{{cite web |publisher=Cooper Independent School District |url=http://www.cooperisd.net/MP.cfm?P=479 |title=Cooper Junior High School |access-date=February 16, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120918145710/http://www.cooperisd.net/MP.cfm?P=479 |archive-date=September 18, 2012 }}</ref> and [[Cooper High School (Cooper, Texas)|Cooper High School]].<ref>{{cite web |publisher=Cooper Independent School District |url=http://www.cooperisd.net/MP.cfm?P=478 |title=Cooper Senior High School |access-date=February 16, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120918145647/http://www.cooperisd.net/MP.cfm?P=478 |archive-date=September 18, 2012 }}</ref>