The second of El Paso's schools to be named after Texas Revolution martyr Col. James W. Fannin was opened in 1963.  The first Fannin School was originally called Highland Park School and was built in 1907 at Alabama and San Jose.  The first Fannin School was closed in March 1930, and was used as a maintenance facility for several years following.  It was, in 1963, still referred to as the Fannin Building.
    The school at 5425 Salem Drive was the topic of much debate when it was started.  Those who have lived in this neighborhood for the past thirty-seven years, know that Fannin Elementary School was built in the middle of the desert.  The neighborhood, which is now teaming with activity, was nonexistent.  "Charles's Folly" is what the school was referred to.  At that time, people would never have believed that only a few years later, this little school in the desert would number among Texas' largest elementary schools.
    Invited through its door in 1963 were 419 students in kindergarten through sixth grade.  Enrollment for the 2000-2001 school year is 686 in pre-kinder through fifth grade.
    Although many changes have been made to this campus in the past thirty-seven years, an unusually dedicated staff has stood ready each year to challenge, to shape, and to educate the children who pass through the doors of this school.  Though some years have been more challenging than others, we can look back through the volumes of records and find that those children are now making the history which will fill the pages of the future.