Misawa Dependent School History
Opened: 1948
Closed: 1960
Misawa Dependent School was located at Misawa Air Base on the northern tip of the island of Honshu, Japan. The original building was completed in 1948 consisted of 7 classrooms, a library, the principal’s office, a cafeteria and kitchen, and an auditorium. The north wing of eight additional classrooms was completed 2 December 1952. The south wing of four additional classrooms was opened 21 May 1956. In 1957 the former cafeteria was partitioned to form two classrooms; the former kitchen served as the chemistry lab; and two classrooms in the nearby, newly finished I&E building were used by the high school. The base gym was used for physical education. At night the school was used by I&E classes and church groups, and on Sundays for Sunday School. The auditorium was often for programs and meetings.
No figures were available for the early enrollments of the school and number of faculty; however, the growth is indicated by the following figures. The number of students increased from 235 in 1952-53 to 540 in 1957. The teaching staff increased from 13 in 1952-53 to 26 plus a high school principal and an elementary school principal. In 1958-58, the elementary school had two classes at each grade level except for first grade which had four classes.
The school newspaper for Misawa Dependent School was “The Missile-Aire”. It was organized in September 1958 and was published eight times a year. It served to record school and extracurricular activities for the school. The yearbook was called Pagoda. The first yearbook was for the 1955-56 school year. Other school activities included the Junior Red Cross, the Bowling Club and Student Council. Through the 50s sports were limited to basketball for boys and cheerleaders for girls. In 1960 the school produced two drama productions and a talent show.
For school year 1960-61, the Misawa Dependent School was separated into two schools, Misawa Elementary, which became Sollars Elementary, and Misawa High School.