Bentley Community Schools

The district traces its beginnings to 1914, when Seymour Bentley donated land for a one-room schoolhouse.^[5] In 1929, the district went from having three teachers to five, and a new seven-room school was under construction to accommodate future growth.^[6]

Barhitte Elementary was named for Ruth M. Barhitte, a teacher in the district between 1923 and 1953 who helped organize the parent-teacher association.^[7][8]

The current Bentley High School was dedicated on May 25, 1958.^[9] The middle school was dedicated on May 7, 1967.^[10]

In 2025, voters approved a bond issue to fund the renovation of a small doctors’ office building next to the middle school into a preschool facility. The building had been donated by McLaren Health Care Corporation. Demand for preschool had exceeded the space available in a single classroom at Barhitte Elementary. The new facility, the Little Bulldogs Learning Center, opened in January 2026.^[11]