The Pyle School of Kaufman

The Pyle School served Kaufman’s African American students until 1967 when it was closed by court ordered racial desegregation. The original school, named the Kaufman Colored School was a wood frame building at the corner of West Grove and Shannon. It burned in the early 1930’s, and a new building was constructed at 401 North Shannon, present site of the Kaufman Christian School. A stone marker still remains on the grounds which reads, "Pyle High School Erected 1936." Mr. Bailey J. Pyle, now deceased, was named principal of the new school, serving until 1967 when the Pyle School closed and its students were transferred to other Kaufman schools. In 1956 the Kaufman Herald reported the Pyle School’s enrollment at 341 students, and an article in the September 8, 1955 Herald stated that the Pyle School had a six weeks summer term and "is now recessed for the cotton harvest."