Joan K. Mendel ES (formerly Yokota East ES) History

Opened: April 1973
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Joan K. Mendel Elementary School has students in grades Sure Start, PSCD (Preschool Services for Children with Disabilities) to Grade 5 with an enrollment of approximately 500 students. The school was formerly known as Yokota East Elementary School.

The original Yokota East Elementary School was at the home of the Fifth Air Force and the 475th Air Base Wing. Fussa City surrounded the base.

By the beginning of the eighties the facility consisted of three modern buildings of one-story, ferro-concrete construction. The classrooms were large and well equipped. The media center served as the hub of both the physical plant and all curricular programs. Besides the twenty-six classroom teachers, there were nine specialists: Learning Development (LD), English as a Second Language (ESL), Reading, PE, Music, Nurse, Librarian, Counselor, and Speech therapist. There were also two Japanese Culture teachers. The school did not have a lunch program. In 1981-82 there were 730 students in grades kindergarten through four.

In 1987-88 the school had 1,100 students in grades kindergarten through six. The school now had four buildings. There were thirty-five classroom teachers and twelve specialists.

Yokota East Elementary had five ferro-concrete buildings with a media center as the hub of all curricular programs in the mid-nineties. In addition to the nineteen classrooms teachers, there were twenty resource teachers including mildly and moderately handicapped, ESL, compensatory education, reading, counseling, speech therapy, media, music, art, and physical education. The staff included over sixty well-trained professionals teaching academics, special education, and such specialties as art, music, physical education, ESL, Gifted education, and Japanese culture.

A school nurse, two counselors, a trained school psychologist, and two speech pathologists were also available to attend to student needs. Joan K. Mendel Elementary School had developed a learning environment that rivaled and exceeded the standards set by most U.S. schools.

Joan K Mendel (1931–2006) was an exceptional presence in the Yokota educational community for thirty-four years. When she wasn’t teaching, she could be found rescuing stray animals and surrounding herself with the loving faces of the children of Aiji-no-Ie Orphanage. In 1973, when Yokota East Elementary school opened, Ms. Mendel was one of the first teachers on staff at the school. She wrote about the school,

Built on an ammunition dump, Yokota East Elementary School opened its doors April 1973, to let in the mud, the empty bullet casings and two combination classes – a first/second grade and a third/fourth grade. Not a blade of grass had poked their heads through the thick, red-brown mud. Mothers spend all day sweeping dirt out of the new garden apartments. The Air Police spent all day investigating bullet casings, brought in to the teachers in big garbage bags every day.

There were no towers. Barbed wire surrounded everything. The Media Center was wall-to-wall furniture, brought over from schools that were closing. The two classrooms were jammed- not even enough room to stand to salute the flag! But all survived the mini opening and the summer of 1973 brought trees, grass, and big, empty classrooms- East was ready to roll!

Although she never had children of her own, she served as a parent, mentor, and friend to hundreds of children in Japan. Ms. Mendel volunteered her time at the Aiji-no-Ie Orphanage in Tokyo. She handled collections of clothing, food, and supplies. Ms. Mendel also started a sponsorship program between Yokota East Elementary and the orphanage which continues today.

She was a compassionate person, an exceptional teacher, and a wonderful friend. Ms. Mendel made such an impact on her fellow colleagues and community that it only seemed right to them to dedicate the school in her name and honor her legacy.

The school mascot is the Panda, and the school colors are red and black.

 

Information from internet sites, school yearbooks, DoDDS School Information Guides, and DoDDS Pacific Region, 1946-1986

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