Ibarra Elementary School

The plaque gives the school's history. A 2011 narrative by Elizabeth Martinez and Dorothy Hernandez adds the numbers and the memories. The board approved the school in summer 1935, and press coverage called it a school for "Mexican children." The city bought the Batts site for $1,000 on June 20. It opened with 22 registered children and two teachers, rose to 39, and was expected to reach 70 within the month. A fifth-grade room was added later. Former students recall being punished for speaking Spanish.

What the plaque says

Ibarra Elementary School IBARRA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL IN 1935, THE BRYAN SCHOOL BOARD ELECTED TO CONSTRUCT A TWO-ROOM, WOODEN SCHOOL BUILDING FOR SPANISH-SPEAKING CHILDREN FOR GRADES ONE THROUGH FOUR. THE SITE CHOSEN WAS ON THE JOE BATTS PROPERTY ALONG THE NEW ROUTE FOR HIGHWAY 21, WEST OF THE CITY. THE SITE IN WEST BRYAN WAS PURCHASED BY THE CITY ON JUNE 20, 1935. THE SCHOOL WAS NAMED FOR REVEREND GUILLERMO IBARRA WHO SERVED AS THE FIRST PASTOR OF PRIMERA IGLESIA BAUTISTA OF BRYAN FROM 1922-1929. HE BELIEVED THAT EDUCATION WAS THE KEY TO SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT, ACHIEVEMENT, AND SUCCESS. DURING THIS TIME SCHOOLS WERE SEGREGATED AND IT WAS OFTEN DIFFICULT FOR HISPANIC CHILDREN TO GET TO SCHOOL BECAUSE OF DISTANCE AND THE LACK OF TRANSPORTATION. THE PRINCIPAL OF THE IBARRA SCHOOL WAS C.M. BETHANY. ESTHER PRICE AND PHILIPPA STONEHAM WERE THE FIRST TEACHERS. THEY COULD SPEAK BOTH ENGLISH AND SPANISH. STUDENTS HAD MIXED EXPERIENCES FROM BEING SEGREGATED TO BEING PUNISHED FOR SPEAKING SPANISH. BREAKFAST AND LUNCH FOR STUDENTS WAS PROVIDED BY THE "RELIEF PROGRAM." THE PARENT TEACHER ASSOCIATION WAS ACTIVE AND PUT ON A SPRING PROGRAM WHERE CHILDREN WOULD SING AND DANCE. CITIZENSHIP CLASSES WERE OFFERED TO LATIN AMERICAN RESIDENTS WHO DESIRED TO BECOME CITIZENS. BOY SCOUT MEETINGS WERE HELD AT IBARRA SCHOOL UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF PETE L. RODRIGUEZ AND MANUEL HERRERA, SR. ON FRIDAY NIGHTS, MOVIES WERE SHOWN OUTSIDE ON THE PLAYGROUND FOR THE COMMUNITY. IBARRA ELEMENTARY SERVED CHILDREN FROM 1935-1949 WHEN IT WAS RENAMED SAN JACINTO ELEMENTARY AND SERVED AS A SCHOOL UNTIL 1960. IBARRA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL WAS LOCATED ON THE CURRENT SITE OF IBARRA PARK. (2012)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum — 6.1 mi
  The library of the forty-first president on the Texas A&M campus, opened in 1997, where George and Barbara Bush and their daughter Robin are buried in a family plot on the grounds.
• Calvert — 27 mi
  A railroad cotton town of 1868 on State Highway 6 that claimed the largest cotton gin in the world and elected Black men to county and state office during Reconstruction.
• Navasota — 27 mi
  A railroad and cotton town where the La Bahia Road crossed the Navasota River, scarred by an 1865 explosion and yellow fever, and the home ground of the songster Mance Lipscomb.
• Fanthorp Inn State Historic Site — 28 mi
  A cedar-log dogtrot cabin of 1834 on the road through Anderson that grew into a seventeen-room inn and post office for travelers of the Republic, kept by one family until 1976.

More markers nearby

• Primera Iglesia Bautista Mexicana de Bryan — 0.7 mi
• Saint Andrew's Episcopal Church — 0.8 mi
• The CW&BV and I&GN Railroads in Bryan — 1.0 mi
• John N. Johnson — 1.0 mi