Bethany School History

R.W. Carpenter founded Bethany School, Bethany Church and Bethany Cemetery. Both the school and the church were located directly south of the existing cemetery on Custer Road, 1/2 mile south of our current Bethany Elementary School.

In 1876, the Bethany School began as a one room school house with one teacher, O. Matthews. By 1890, the school had three teachers and 43 students. At this time, Bethany School was privately funded at the yearly amount of $169.95

In the late 1800's and early 1900's, the area where Bethany Elementary is located, was known as Bethany Community. Each year during this time, the school and the Church were known for their production of a Christmas Pageant. This was a popular event even for the surrounding communities. People came from far and near to attend this special celebration. In 1933, Bethany Church was torn down. Bethany School was closed in 1935 and a few years later the building was demolished. The land was then donated to the Bethany Cemetery.

In 1993, Plano Independent School District opened the doors of our current day, Bethany Elementary School. Today, we pride ourselves on carrying forth the mission and tradition of being a "community school". We are the Bethany Bunch, and this mascot was chosen to signify how collectively, our families, students and staff joins together as one unified and caring school community. In addition, each grade level has a symbolic animal mascot whose name begins with the letter "B". This concept essentially symbolizes that each member of our school is unique and that our differences and diversity enhance the Bethany community.

"The Bethany community is dedicated to making every day a new beginning where academic excellence and life long learning are nurtured."