Sagamihara ES History
Opened: 1951
Closed: 1982
Sagamihara Elementary School opened in September 1951 with 300 students, ten teachers, and a principal. The school was located about thirty miles southwest of Tokyo in the Kanto Plain on the island of Honshu. Camp Zama, which is three miles away, served as the headquarters for the US Army Command/IX Corps, Japan.
The housing area where the school was located was completely surrounded by Japanese homes and businesses. The school started in a building purchased from the Japanese Government. Two one-story buildings were constructed in 1954 and 1955 to add to the original building, which was two stories. The original building was used by the Japanese military during the war and burned down in January 1976. Three temporary buildings were constructed in the summer of 1976 on the community play area across the street from the original school site.
During the last year of the school, about one third of the students were bused from three housing areas, and there were thirty-one educators on the staff. The enrollment for grades kindergarten through five was 530 students.
Information from internet sites, school yearbooks, DoDDS School Information Guides and DoDDS Pacific Region, 1946-1986