Bechtel ES History
Opened: 1987
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William C. Bechtel Elementary School was a new building on Camp McTureous, eight miles northwest of Kadena Air Base. The two-story facility opened in November 1987 and was designed to accommodate 700 students. The school drew its enrollment from Camps Courtney and McTureous, as well as surrounding off-base areas.
The school’s namesake, William C. Bechtel, was a Marine stationed on Okinawa during World War II. He returned to the island as a DoDEA administrator and school principal.
The school mascot is the Bulldog, and the school colors were blue and white, later changed to red, white, and blue. The school newspaper was The Bechtel Bulldog.
The school originally had twenty-five general purpose classrooms, three kindergarten classrooms, two learning-impaired resource rooms, a host nation room with a kitchenette, rooms for English as a Second Language, art, speech, music, a cafeteria/kitchen, administrative offices, media area, gymnasium, swimming pool, lighted ball courts, baseball field, and football/soccer field.
In the fall of 1989, three new kindergarten classrooms and a gymnasium were added to the new facility. There were thirty-three educators on the staff, including several specialists for special education, a reading improvement specialist, a media specialist, a physical education teacher, a talented/gifted teacher, a nurse, a counselor, and a Japanese culture teacher. There were also half-time positions for art, music, and compensatory education. The principal was Mr. Oliver Wilson. Ms. Ruth Leslie became the assistant principal for the 1991-92 school year and remained in this position through the 1995-96 year.
By the 1994-95 school year, the elementary school had almost 900 students in kindergarten through fifth grade. The staff of forty-five educators included specialists for learning-impaired, communications-impaired, reading improvement, media, physical education, art, guidance, health, art, music, and compensatory education. Bechtel shared a school psychologist with another school. Student activities included chorus, dance club, math club, computer graphics, video club, Young Astronauts and Pilots, puppet making, newspaper, safety patrol, and student council. Special events or presentations at the school included Young Authors, D.A.R.E., Geography Bee, Guest Readers, Read-a-thon, Story Book Character Day, and Science Fair. The Eisa Dancers Parade and Ishikawan–American Exchange were cultural events. The administrators were Tim Kilkenny, principal, and Ruth Leslie, assistant principal.
By the 1999-2000 school year, the school’s enrollment reached 1,175 students. The principal was Mr. Rhichard, and the two assistants were Dr. Carol Peterson and Mr. Ron Uhl. School activities added a Kite Day, Friendship Day, and Bring a Parent to School Day. Partnerships with the military provided Marine volunteers to the school. One special event was preparing Friendship Boxes for East Timor. Mr. Stanley Hays became the principial for the 2000-01 school year.
The 2007-08 DoDDS Pacific Area Teacher of the Year was Ms. Veronica Finney, a teacher at Bechtel. The school’s enrollment had dropped to 860. The school sponsored several community projects including sending school supplies to Afghanistan. The school held a Ryukyu Festival highlighting cultural events such as Eisa, Taiko, Sumo, and Karate. The administrators were principal Joe Masters and assistant principal Mike McClain.
The 2010s brought several changes to the school. The enrollment went from a low of 574 during the 2011-12 school year after the sixth grade moved to a middle school to 790 by the 2019-20 school year. One special volunteer program was Real Marines Read. This was when Marines from the local bases read to students. Students produced a daily morning show, participated in video production, and had a robotics club. Another new club was Student Innovators. The school now had an Artist in Residence program and devoted a week to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) activities. Eric Ebert, the school’s education technologist, was the Okinawa Teacher of the Year for 2013.
The administrators during this time were:
| 2011–2012 | Helen Balilo, principal, and Vanessa Faerber, assistant principal |
| 2012–2013 | Ms. P. Osman, principal, and Vanessa Faerber, assistant principal |
| 2013–2014 | P. Osman, principal, and Gordon Lyn-Cook, assistant principal |
| 2014–2015 | Scott Tefft, principal, and Gordon Lyn-Cook, assistant principal |
| 2015–2017 | Scott Tefft, principal, and assistant principals Gordon Lyn-Cook and Regina Florence |
| 2017–2018 | Joel Grim, principal, and assistant principals Gordon Lyn-Cook and Regina Florence |
| 2018–2021 | Gordon Lyn-Cook, principal, and assistant principal Leslie Brozovith |
The school currently has an early release program on Tuesdays in order to provide teachers with training and collaboration opportunities. Several after school programs are available to students including a running club for grades two through five.
The administrators for the 2022-23 school year were Mr. Scott Tefft, principal, and Mr. Kerwin Jones, assistant principal. The enrollment for the 2023-24 school year was about 415 students, and Mr. Tefft is the only administrator.
Information from DoDDS School Guides, school website and school yearbooks