In 1898 a Presbyterian boarding school was built on the present school grounds. A school has been on the school site continuously since that time. A public high school, as well as an elementary school were housed here for many years. A brick building was built in the early 1920's to house the high school department. This building was later used for the elementary school program when the high school was consolidated with Clover High School and was used to house Bethany Elementary School until increased enrollment required the construction of a new facility. In December of 1987, the present building was occupied. Additions to this facility were completed in 1993 and in 1999.

The school is the institution that has drawn the community together as a unit, and the school attendance lines have established the Bethany community boundaries. The people of the community have a strong affinity with the school.

The school program is important to the people of the community. The school and community are proud of the academic achievement and the behavior of the students. A high quality program is expected and supported.

The mission of Bethany Elementary School is to provide quality education in order to prepare lifelong learners to be productive in an ever changing world. We believe the purpose of school is to lead students to reason well, desire knowledge, apply learning to new situations and accept responsibility for the challenges of today and tomorrow. 

We believe all children have the ability to learn more when immersed in a highly engaged environment that values individual growth, daily success and positive relationships.  We believe the focus of school is to design purposeful, engaging work and to provide relevant experiences that promote success for each student.

We believe that school personnel must form collaborative partnerships with parents and the community to share responsibility for providing students a safe, supportive environment where they can focus on quality work.  We believe in providing employees with encouragement, time, resources and professional development to meet high expectations for continuous improvement.