About Bentley Elementary

Bentley Elementary opened for the 2016-2017 school year.   We were housed inside Hubenak Elementary for the first half of the year.  Construction on our campus was completed in December 2016.  Bentley Elementary welcomed students to their new building on January 5, 2016 and our school was dedicated on March 9, 2017.

At the June 2016 Lamar CISD Board Meeting, the mascot and colors were voted on and approved.  We are the Bentley Blazers and our colors are navy and yellow.

Our school is named after Carl Briscoe Bentley.  Carl Briscoe Bentley was born in Fulshear, Texas to parents Carl Charles Bentley and Minnie Briscoe Bentley, on June 4, 1920, on the same property he lived his entire life.  A lifelong Fulshear resident, he was the 4th generation to live in Fulshear and the 6th generation of the Foster Briscoe Legacy which was part of the Old 300 Settlers in Texas with Stephen F. Austin.  Carl enlisted in the United States Army earning him the Bronze Star Medal for heroism, two Purple Hearts, the Victory Medal and the Good Conduct Medal.  Carl was united in marriage to Stella Kennelly on February 12, 1940.  He served as Justice of the Peace for over 35 years in Fort Bend County, Texas.  He enjoyed ranching and spending time with his family.  Carl has a daughter, Duane Bentley Peck of Fulshear, son Leigh John Bentley of Fulshear, 4 grandchildren, and 14 great-grandchildren.

Bentley was 21 years old when Pearl Harbor was attacked.  He was busy taking care of his grandmother’s cattle and cotton farm.  “I decided since I was young and healthy, I could do more” Bentley said in an interview in 2009.  “They needed infantryman, so that’s where I went”.  He was sent to the Pacific Island of Okinawa, the scene of some of the most ferocious fighting in the Pacific Theatre.    

During the fight with the Japanese soldiers for a contested ridge, Bentley rescued two American soldiers who were stranded in a foxhole by enemy sniper fire by drawing the sniper’s attention away from his comrades and helping them to escape; he was wounded during the effort, earning the first of two Purple Hearts, and he also received a Bronze Star for the daring rescue. After he was released from the hospital, he went back to combat.  The fighting was still fierce and he suffered his second injury.  Artillery shells were raining down on their positions and one of them hit so close it blew him out of the foxhole where he had taken cover. “I didn’t know where I was or what I was doing for a short time,” said Bentley. He was suffering from shell-shock, but three days later he was back in the thick of battle. Bentley went on to receive a second Purple Heart for wounds received when an artillery shell hit his foxhole.  During his time in Okinawa, he also earned several battlefield promotions and served as squad leader.

We are truly honored to be named after such a brave, honorable and noble man who was born and raised right here in this area.