The Sullivans ES History
Opened: 1947
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The Sullivans Elementary School at Yokosuka Naval Base, Japan, opened in September 1947 with three teachers on its roster. From that small beginning, the school grew, and by 1986 the school had over fifty teachers and approximately 1,250 students.
The school was named for the five Sullivan brothers who were killed in action during World War II. George Thomas, Francis Henry, Joseph Eugene, Madison Abel, and Albert Leo Sullivan enlisted in the US Navy after a friend died during the attack on Pearl Harbor. They enlisted with the provision that they would not be separated. After their enlistment, the brothers were sent to the Naval Training School, Great Lakes, Illinois, together, and subsequently were ordered to the USS Juneau. The Juneau, a heavy cruiser, was torpedoed and sunk by enemy action near the Solomon Islands, during the Battle of Guadalcanal, 13 November 1942.
The school colors are blue and white, and the mascot is the Dolphin.
The school building for the 1981-82 school year was a large, modern two-story American-type elementary school. The building was completed in 1979 and was built to accommodate the future growth of the base. There were forty-three elementary classrooms, a new addition to an existing gymnasium, numerous special rooms, offices for administration, pupil personnel offices, and special subject area rooms. The two Japanese culture rooms had sections in keeping with Japanese culture and a regular classroom. Additionally, the school had a large arts and crafts center, a multipurpose room, and a health room.
A learning resource center was completed during the latter part of the 1981-82 school year. The enrollment that year was 1,200 students in grades kindergarten through six. School staff consisted of sixty-five professional staff members including a complete staff of pupil personnel staff, two librarians, and a teacher for gifted/talented.
There were 1,250 students enrolled for the 1987-88 school year. The school was staffed by seventy-one staff members including a complete Pupil Personnel Services complement, two librarians, and a teacher for gifted/talented. The next school year, the school had special facilities to accommodate handicapped children such as ramps, special bathrooms, and water fountains. The school was staffed with seventy- four staff members.
For the 1993-94 school year, the school was now called Sullivans Elementary School. There were 1,425 students in the forty-four classrooms with eighty-two professionals including two librarians, 1.5 gifted/talented teachers, and three compensatory education teachers. There were also specialists for art, music, physical education, and host nation. The next school year the school staff included 100 professionals and the enrollment reached 1,560.
Sullivans School had a special recognition program that was started in the nineties. According to Dr. Carol Cressy, a principal for nine years, once a month each teacher named a student who deserved to sign the Golden Book. Dr. Cressy sat in the Lobby with the book and gold pens and the students lined up to sign the Book, which was then kept on the entrance counter. Later, filled books went to the counter that we called Our Museum stretched out with a bench in front of the library.
Michelle Foust stated that when Peter Greiner was principal, the Golden Book was awarded daily with the grade levels cycling through rotations all year. When it was their grade level’s day, classroom teachers chose a student from their class to be The Golden Book recipient. The certificate had a place for teachers to write a short description of why that student was selected for the award. Because of the frequency of awards, typically all students were recognized at some point during the year. Each day, the names of that grade level’s Golden Book awardees were read during morning announcements, and those children went to the front office to sign the large Golden Book and were congratulated by the administrator for that grade level. Most often, the students were surprised by their selection and the excitement in that grade level’s hallway was infectious. Students loved listening for names to be read on the announcements each morning!
Although the beginnings of this tradition had The Golden Book separate from Citizen of the Month (one student per month from each class), over time the two awards merged into one and The Golden Book became a monthly award in place of Citizen of the Month, which followed the monthly character traits. The daily, quick Golden Book recognitions that included all students at some point became a monthly event for one student per class with parents invited to attend. These ceremonies were recorded and shared schoolwide.
At the end of 2018-2019 school year, Commander, Fleet Activities Yokosuka (CFAY) Capt. Jeffrey Kim celebrated the 290 students who completed the pilot after-school Japanese Language Program at The Sullivans School on June 3.
The pilot Japanese Language School at The Sullivans and neighboring Ikego Elementary School is a partnership between the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) and the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) that was developed by Kim during his tenure as a Mansfield Fellow prior to taking command of the Yokosuka base. The program was launched in September 2018, and it was taught after school three days a week by Japanese teachers and provided free Japanese language education to DoDEA students in kindergarten through second grade.
“Nihongo no benkyo wa tanoshikatta desu ka [Did you all enjoy studying Japanese?],” asked Kim addressing the attending students in Japanese. “Benkyo wo tsuzukete wasurenai de kudasai [From here on, please continue to learn Japanese and remember what you learned here].”
In February 2023, Mr. Dwayne Jefferson was appointed principal, and his assistants were Bryan English and Dr. Angela Langilotti. For the 2023-24 school year, The Sullivans Elementary has prekindergarten, Sure Start, and grades kindergarten through six, with approximately 1,250 students enrolled.
The Sullivans School will be divided into two schools for the 2024-25 school year: Yokosuka Primary (pre-kindergarten through first grade) and The Sullivans School (second through fourth grade). The two schools will operate out of the same facility sharing the main office, library, playground, and some auxiliary services.
Information from internet sites, DoDDS School Information Guides, and DoDDS Pacific Region, 1946-1986 and DoDEA webpage