History of the San Benito Schools by Tad Brown, daughter of the first teacher of the San Benito School. Published in 1941

At the present time we have seven buildings with a faculty of 68 members and a student enrollment of 2415. Our high school has a total of 44.5 affiliated credits and is now a member of the Southern Association. Menu

The first school in San Benito opened December 7, 1907, for a six months' term in a little one-room building in the three hundred block on North Travis Avenue. The building with some additions still stands today and is used for a residence. There were forty-eight pupils enrolled during the term, representing five nationalities: Americans, non-English speaking Germans, Bohemians, Spaniards, and Mexicans. The first teacher was Mrs. Scott Brown, who was then Miss Kate Purvis. The grades were taught later in the second story of a building across from the E. De La Rosa Dry Goods Store. The upper grades were taught in a building located across the street from the water tower. In January, 1911, the entire school was moved to the old high school, a brick building located where the present Junior-Senior High School Building now is. All grades were in this brick building until South Ward or Landrum was added in 1912. Fred Booth School was built in 1907 and Frank Roberts in 1930. A school for negros has been matained since 1920. The Home Economics Building and a small brick building for Junior High on the north end of the present campus were later added. Temporary wooden shacks were built to take care of grade school children on the north side. The present North Ward Building was built for Senior High in 1926, but since 1930, when the old high school building was torn down and a new one constructed, it has been used as a primary school.