Mr. Stephens felt responsible for “his people” as he called the miners who worked for him and their families. When weather was bad he would have Pancho, the handy man, hitch up the mules, gather the children, and get them to school. One winter when there was an unusually heavy snow he had runners made for the delivery wagon and the youngsters had sleigh rides to and from school. Ordinarily most children walked, some a distance of three or four miles. A few had ponies or burros, on which the younger ones would ride. Families were large. One father came into the store one day and said, “The kids are all in school now, but the weather is getting cold. They can’t go with bare feet. Sell me one dozen pair of shoes.” What sizes? “Oh, just assorted.” Brogans came in barrels in those days, so a dozen pair of assorted sizes were picked out and the Schafer children came to school, proud if awkward, in the new shoes. By 1888 a larger school was needed, and again Mr. Stephens through the Pinos Altos Mining Company, known locally as “Bell and Stephens”, donated land and built on the present site. The people of the town were very proud of the new building and in the good American tradition would not be content until the flag was flying over it. Men found a beautiful pine well over one hundred feet tall in the forest, cut, trimmed and shaped it only to find that they could not get the pole into town by oxen without cutting it. They did so and by splicing it together again, painting it, and surmounting it with a golden ball (made by W. E. Watson), erected the pole ninety-two feet high. The first flag raising and dedication on Feb. 22, 1889, was an event attended by the townspeople. Lightning over the years shortened the pole and the cost of keeping it in repair caused it to be taken down after twenty years of service. The principal of the new school was a Mr. Tilman, followed by a Mr. Miller, W. H. Decker, Miss Lela Manville, Mrs. Grace Bisby, and others. Under P.W.A. the old building was razed and a two-room adobe erected. It was inadequate and another building was put up. There were never more than six teachers employed during a term. The extra classes were held in the Community Church and in the old office building since destroyed by fire. Outstanding teachers, as judged by pupils, co-workers, and the community were Mr. Decker, Miss Manville, and Mrs. Bisby, who contributed not only educationally to the locale but to the county, civically and socially. The last teachers were Mr. W. Westwood and Mrs. Elton Robinson.