In 1935, the Bryan school board elected to construct a two-room wooden school building for Spanish-speaking children in grades one through four on the Joe Batts property along the new route for Highway 21 west of the city, and the site in West Bryan was purchased by the city on June 20, 1935. The school was named for Reverend Guillermo Ibarra, the first pastor of Primera Iglesia Bautista of Bryan from 1922-1929, who believed education was the key to social development, achievement, and success. At a time of segregated schools, when Hispanic children often had difficulty getting to school because of distance and lack of transportation, the school was led by principal C.M. Bethany, with Esther Price and Philippa Stoneham as the first teachers, both able to speak English and Spanish. Students experienced segregation in different ways, including punishment for speaking Spanish. The relief program provided breakfast and lunch, the Parent Teacher Association organized a spring program where children could sing and dance, citizenship classes were offered to Latin American residents who wanted to become citizens, Boy Scout meetings were held there under Pete L. Rodriguez and Manuel Herrera, Sr., and movies were shown outside on the playground on Friday nights for the community. The school served children from 1935-1949, was renamed San Jacinto Elementary, continued as a school until 1960, and stood on the current site of Ibarra Park.