School Histories

Yokota West ES (formerly Yokota ES) History

Opened: 1946
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The Imperial Japanese Government transformed the cornfields and pine groves of Tama Prefecture into a military base called Tama Army Airfield in 1940. The area was used primarily as a test flight center during World War II, and the base remained fully operational until the end of the war. United States intelligence sources that viewed the base from the air, unfamiliar with the actual name, called the base Yokota after nearby Yokota Village. When US forces began operations on September 4, 1945, the name remained. American dependents began to arrive at Yokota Air Base shortly thereafter, on May 10, 1946.

Yokota American School opened its doors on September 12, 1946, in Yokota’s housing area on Johnson Air Base with just two teachers and twelve students in a room behind the chapel lounge. Mr. Roland Pennypacker was the first principal/teacher. Chiyo Araki, the other teacher, remembers, “It seemed like a big happy family and everything was simple and easy.”

According to Araki, Yokota got a new school in record time. The base requested three regular teachers to improve the school but still continued the combination classes. The first year, the school included grades one through four.

In the middle of July 1948, the new school was established in its next location under full-speed construction. Men worked day and night without rest, and it took one-and-a-half months to complete.

In the spring of 1946, qualified teachers and administrators were recruited. Japanese nationals, military personnel, and their dependents ran the school until October of 1947 when the first civil service employees arrived. Mr. Marks, the first regular principal, started in the new building in September of 1948 with four female teachers, a school board, a parent-teacher club, and sixty-eight students in grades 1–6.

By 1956, the school had a faculty of twenty-seven and now had a nursery school through grade eight. The two administrators were principal Miss Margaret McCormack and assistant principal Boise Winchester. There were just under 850 students enrolled including two correspondence students from Wajima, Japan. The students were taught by their moms using materials provided by teachers from Yokota. The two students visited the school during the year, and the teachers visited them at home. Students participated in several patrols including Safety Patrols, Hall Patrols, and the most interesting Buildings and Grounds Patrols. This group was tasked with patrolling air raid shelters and bicycle traffic on the school grounds. Students also participated in Junior Red Cross, a drama club, touch football, and cheerleaders.

By 1961, enrollment was up to 1,600 students, with 320 of those students attending school at the Hamura annex three miles away. Hot lunches were served in the cafeteria for thirty cents, and students enjoyed activities that included Japanese culture class, a science fair, a spelling bee, soroban club, good citizen awards, and a student-published newspaper.

The Hino Chamber of Commerce supported the school’s first ever Nihon Matsuri celebration in 1971. All of the Japanese presenters came from the city of Hino that year. Today, 400 presenters come from more than 17 communities to support the continued tradition every year during Golden Week, the first week of May. Some of the activities presented are traditional Japanese kite making, Sumo wrestling, traditional Japanese clothing, Japanese dance costumes, Ikebana, and traditional Japanese music.

In April of 1973, Yokota East opened its doors with two multi-age classrooms, and in turn Yokota Elementary was designated as Yokota West Elementary. In 1976, Yokota West was visited for the first time by an accreditation team from the North Central Association. The school surpassed the organization’s tough standards to become one of just 150 other elementary schools in the United States at the time to earn accreditation. The committee noted positive attitudes of the faculty and students, an outstanding field trip and student exchange program, and a creative use of old facilities. This report may have sparked the plans for a new school building.

The enrollment for the 1977-78 school year was about 850 students in kindergarten through sixth grade. The principal was Mr. Cawley, and the assistant principals were Dr. Hayden and Mr. Graybail. A new extracurricular activity was gymnastics.

In July of 1981, the old school building was torn down. The school was then moved to four transitional sites while the new school was being constructed. Despite the protests of parents and teachers, grades one through four were taught in hospital buildings, grade five was at the adult education center, grade six was at the high school, and kindergarten was taught at the west chapel.

Students and teachers were thrilled to move into a brand-new building, one that they helped to design, on the west side of Yokota Air Base in 1983. The crane, the Japanese symbol for honor, loyalty, and good fortune, was chosen as the mascot and incorporated into the décor of the new school building. The school colors are blue and white, and the school newspaper was the Yokota West Journal.

The classrooms did not have doors in the building’s original design to allow for grade level collaboration in the pod areas. Even after the classroom doors were installed in 1986, teachers and students remember a happy school atmosphere where everyone worked together to provide enriching experiences for students such as ski trips, soroban, carnivals, and school exchanges.

During the 1990s, Yokota West continued to grow and flourish with new technology, standards-based education, school-wide thematic units, and a variety of engaging student programs. There was a student orchestra, presidential debates, family bingo nights, Learn-a-Bration, field day, good citizen awards, Soroban Club, and, of course, Nihon Matsuri. Students were also involved in holiday celebrations and cultural activities such as Asian-Pacific Week and African-American events as well as field trips to local venues.

The school building grew during this time as well. A building with four classrooms built around a large common area now housed the District Superintendent’s Offices, and in 2004, four new kindergarten classrooms and a primary playground were added to meet the needs of the full-day kindergarten program. The enrollment ranged from 500 students in 1990-91 to over 730 students for the 1993-94 school year. Most years there were between 550 and 600 students.

By 2007, when the 60^th year of the school was celebrated, the enrollment was 455 students with grades pre-kindergarten through fifth. The principal was Lee Kirsch. He was principal number twenty-three. Two former Yokota West principals still worked at Yokota in the district office. Mr. James Bowers was the principal from 1989 to 1994, and Mr. Scott Sterry was the principal from 1999 to 2002. The traditions of the past 60 years were alive and well at Yokota West. It was still a great place to learn, where everyone was friendly and helpful. There were always people smiling and lots of laughter. School-wide events gave the students a common bond.

For the celebration of sixty years, a school song was written by DeNece Jobansen:

In nineteen forty-five were told
A worldwide conflict ended.
And in the land of the rising sun
Two great nations worked as one
To teach our children right Irom wrong
While keeping culture strong

Yokota Elementary School, where we learn how to share.
Yokota Elementary School, where we learn how to care.

The elegant crane our mascot became
His courage and wisdom our creed.
For these are qualities we all need
If we are truly to succeed
And work and play in harmony.

Yokota Elementary School, where we learn how to share.
Yokota Elementary School, where we learn how to care;
For peace everywhere.

During the new millennium, Yokota West Elementary School continued to embrace traditional activities such as Nihon Matsuri, Science Fair, and Learn-a-Bration while integrating new ideas such as the Rube Goldberg Invention Convention, Dr. Seuss Night, and collaborative planning. Other new activities included celebrating the Month of the Military Child, Read Across America, Reading Counts, Alternative Power Day, Writers’ Workshop, and an annual Spelling Bee. The enrollment ranged from 530 students to less than 275 by the end of the decade.

In the 2010s, students were learning Spanish, involved in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) problem solving, creating video productions, and enjoying the new Lego club. Enrollment continued to drop and by the 2019-20 school year there were less than 175 students enrolled.

Yokota West has had good fortune and longevity as it celebrates being the longest active school in the Department of Defense anywhere in the world. During the 2022-23 school year, Yokota West celebrated 77 years of hosting students and staff and still shines a positive light on our community and in Japan.

School Administrators from 1990 to Present

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