The Manual of the Pubic Schools of Hillsdale Co. Michigan, for 1897 and 1898, advised Directors to "use more care in selecting a trainer for your children than you would in selecting a trainer for your colts."

Miss Caroline Ford was the first teacher in the Village of Hillsdale. Her first school was private, in a log home north of State Street. Miss Ford taught the first school organized by the Village of Hillsdale in 1841 in a frame building on East Bacon. That burned, which resulted in the building of the stone school on the Courthouse Square.

The teachers of the old Central School building, of which only a few are identified included  Mr. Shuart, the Superintendent, S.J. Gier, the Principal, Daisy Blackman Galloway, Mrs. S.J. Gier, Miss Ayers, Mrs. Chad Tyler, Mrs. DuBois, Mrs. Lottie Stone, Mrs. Edna Cornell, and Miss Corning. Central, also known as Union School, was built to replace the old stone school on Courthouse Square and was completed in 1868.

By 1936 with the upper floor condemned, the Central School was torn down to make room for the new elementary school named after Carl L. Bailey, the esteemed school board member who had rallied long and hard for the new school. Mr. Bailey died suddenly the night of the school bonding vote, without knowing the final results.

Carol A. Lackey