The majority of the following information about the history of Gettysburg Elementary School is from the book, 50 Unified Years compiled and edited by Susan Sawyer Wise.

Gettysburg was first established in 1987 in portables. Then in 1989, the staff and students moved in to its permanent facility located at 2100 Gettysburg Avenue on 15 acres in Clovis, California. The school's mascot is the Generals with school colors of purple and gold. The school's motto for many, many years was "Reach for the Stars" until more recent years the students have enjoyed mottos such as "Heroes-Truth, Justice, and the Pursuit of Learning," and this year's motto, "The Gettysburg Generals are climbing to new heights!."

In 1987, Gettysburg Elementary first started operating in portable buildings behind Clovis High School. The students attended the portable site through June 1989 while contractor Lewis C. Nelson and Sons completed the new $6.3 million facility. Over the years the school went through numerous boundary changes due to over crowding and building new schools. In the 1992-1993 school year, Gettysburg along with Cole, Miramonte, Tarpey, and Weldon elementary schools was placed on a year-round, multi-track schedule. The year-round experiment lasted two years. A portable school was opened on the southeast side of Clovis High to temporarily accommodate overcrowding.

Gettysburg was named for the street on which it is located, Gettysburg Avenue. The school colors were selected by students who would be attending Gettysburg when it opened and were approved by the governing board. The mascot, the Generals, was in recognition to the Civil War/Gettysburg influence.

The school opened in September 1989 with Tony Peterson, Jr., as principal. Since then it has had Rick Talley, Todd Bennett, Carl Tomlinson, Scott Dille, Nick Mele and current principal David Castro.

Recognition in excellence includes the National Blue Ribbon School Award (1999, 2007). The National Drug-Free Schools Program Award (1995) and the State Distinguished School Award (1998, 2006). Gettysburg has also earned the CBEE (California Business for Education Excellence) Honor Roll in 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016. Gettysburg reached an API (Academic Performance Index) over the coveted 900 with scoring 914 in the school year 2012-2013.

Current staff still working at Gettysburg since it was established in 1987 are Dawn Couchman and Stacy King.