The Drew Central School District, established in 1927 by the Drew County School Board, was named the A and M Training School #5 because of its affiliation with Arkansas A and M College in Monticello. The purpose of establishing the school was to provide training for teachers. The name of the school was changed to Drew Central School District #5 in 1934 and remained a part of the college until 1936.
At this time, the college and the school had grown to the point that the two needed to be separate entities. Other factors, such as a fire that destroyed the school buildings, created necessity for separate institutions. The college leased 20 acres of land to Drew Central for 99 years for the site of the current campus of Drew Central. An additional eleven acres was leased in 1983, making a total of 31 acres at the present time.
The current Drew Central School District contains 570 square miles. All of the district is in rural Drew County, with all students being bussed from this area to the campus in grades K-12. Several consolidated/annexed districts have been incorporated into Drew Central to make it what it is today. In the early 1900's, Drew County had over 80 small schools; today there are only two school districts within the county boundaries, Monticello School District and Drew Central. In 1990, Wilmar was the last school to be annexed with Drew Central, with the total Wilmar school population moved to the Drew Central campus in 1992.