Oscar
de la Fuente Elementary School
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This school is located at 2700 S. Sam Houston. It measures 61,375 square feet and is designated to accommodate 660 students. The school cost $7,227,530 to build. An official dedication ceremony took place on Sat. Oct. 21 at 10:00 a.m. The school is named after retired Judge Oscar De La Fuente Sr. who was born in San Benito July 8, 1929. He attended Fred Booth Elementary and graduated from San Benito High School in 1950. He answered his call of duty and took part in the Korean War. He saw active duty as a tank commander with the 224 Regiment 40th Division. He earned his combat infantry badge and was honorably discharged in 1953 as a sergeant. De La Fuente Sr. was elected to the San Benito CISD Board of Trustees in 1972, where he served on the board for 12 years. He served as the first Hispanic president of the board in 1974 and continued serving in the capacity in 1975, 1976, 1977, and again, in 1980. He was elected to serve as Justice of the Peace in 1984, an office he held until his retirement at the end of 2004. |
San
Benito Riverside Middle School
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 This school is located at the corner of Padilla Street and Military Highway, 281, southeast of La Paloma Elementary. The school measures 144, 504 square feet and is designed to accommodate 1,200 sixth, seventh and eighth grade students from the country area. The school cost $13,730,000 and was built as part of the 2004 voter-approved bond election. An official dedication ceremony was held on Saturday, September 23 at 3:00 p.m. |
"Sonny" Brazil Agricultural Science Complex
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The complex, located behind San Benito Veterans Memorial Academy, perpetually honors retired educator Shepherd D. "Sonny" Brazil. Brazil is known for his dedication to the local agriculture program, agriculture students, and numerous youth organizations. Brazil taught Agriculture Science at SBHS for 33 years. Former colleagues and students fondly remember him as an excellent and very dedicated teacher who contributed greatly to the local Career and Technology Education (CATE) Program. Brazil is credited with having built the first agricultural school farm with wood that drifted ashore as part of the aftermath of the extremely heavy rains of Hurricane Beulah in September of 1967. Under his unrelenting leadership, the Agriculture Science Program and San Benito chapter of the Future Farmers of America (FFA) won numerous recognitions throughout the Rio Grande Valley and the State of Texas. Since retiring in 1994, Brazil has remained active with numerous youth organizations, including the Rio Grande Valley Livestock Show and Rodeo, the Cameron County Livestock Show, and the 4-H and FFA clubs. An official ribbon cutting ceremony for the $3 million dollar facility was held on Sat. Oct. 14 at 10:00 a.m. The complex features a 1,000 seat arena and pens for student projects, classrooms and a laboratory. |
San Benito CISD 