Recent History

In 2001, the Miss Jewell and Fairview Elementary Schools merged into one complex to better serve the needs of our growing Pre-K - 4th Grade students.  The school year of 2007-08 saw the addition of the 5th grade to our school, now named Fairview/Miss Jewell Elementary School.  In 2014, PreK moved to an Early Childhood Campus.  Fairview-Miss Jewell now serves K-5 students.  Below, please read about Copperas Cove's most beloved educator, Miss Jewell Yarborough.

Our Namesake

Miss Jewell Yarborough
October 21, 1890 - December 2, 1994

Miss Jewell Elementary School was named for Miss Jewell Yarborough, an amazing woman and educator in Central Texas.

Miss Jewell, as she was called by friends and students, was born in Mills County, Texas on October 21, 1890. At the age of twenty-one, Miss Jewell graduated from North Texas State Normal College in 1911 with a second grade Teacher's Certificate and began a long and prosperous career in education.

Miss Jewell began her teaching career in a one-teacher school ten miles southwest of Gatesville. Soon after, the State Board of Education granted Miss Jewell a State Second Grade Certificate, followed by a State First Grade Certificate. Miss Jewell's career in education brought her to Paint Rock, Long Cove, Carodan, and Lake Victor, where she eventually became Principal. When Miss Jewell moved to Copperas Cove in 1920 to begin her 43 year career here, her salary was $60 a month.

In 1955, Miss Jewell gained her Texas Teacher Certificate to teach both Elementary and High School, and she obtained her Master's degree from North Texas State Teachers College when she was 60.

So beloved was Miss Jewell by her students and the community that Vic Mathias, a childhood resident of Copperas Cove and student of Miss Jewell wrote, 'Please accept my sincere congratulations on having a school named in your honor in Copperas Cove. This is certainly a fine and appropriate tribute to someone who has contributed so much to many in the education field.' Mr. Mathias continued, 'Although I have wandered...from my home base at Copperas Cove, I will long remember the time spent with you when I entered school'.

For 41 years, Miss Jewell taught in Copperas Cove. In 1961, Miss Jewell retired, having been in education for 50 years.

The Miss Jewell Elementary School was opened in 1965.