Pusan American School History
Opened: 1960
Closed: 2006
Pusan American opened in 1960 as a small elementary school, adding a high school in 1967. The school was located at Camp Hialeah, in a congested part of Pusan.
For the 1981-82 school year the school had two facilities, a K-6 and a 7-12. The elementary facility was a modern one-story building with seven classrooms, a multipurpose area, a library, and a teachers’ lounge. There weren’t any cafeteria facilities. There was a spacious field for sports activities with climbing apparatus and other equipment. Additionally, there was a concrete outdoor basketball court. The elementary enrollment was 150 students in K-6.
Pusan American High School’s physical plant consisted of fourteen vertical wall Quonset buildings for classrooms, library, office space, and storage facilities. The buildings were centrally heated and had fluorescent lighting and tile floors. Students also used other facilities on base including the teen club, snack bar, bowling alley, post gym, tennis courts, craft shop, and post library. In 1981-82, there were 100 high school students. Staff included a principal, secretary, counselor, reading improvement specialist, eight high school teachers, and a school nurse.
The new facility was operational for the 1983-84 school year. The new elementary section of the school had six classrooms and a multipurpose area. The high school was attached to the elementary wing and included twelve classrooms, a library, guidance office, staff lounge, office space, and storage facilities. The new building officially opened in August 1983. Adjoining the school was a spacious field used for sports activities. It contained climbing apparatus and other equipment. There was also an outdoor concrete basketball court and a combination softball/soccer field. Since the school did not have a cafeteria, students purchased their lunch at the post snack bar or brought their lunch.
By the 1987-88 school year the enrollment for PreK–12 totaled 240 students with ninety-five in the high school grades. The enrollment remained constant for the next several years. A new school complex opened in 1991 and housed a developmental early childhood center (PreK and kindergarten) and a gymnasium/cafeteria/multipurpose room.
By the early nineties, the school had two full-time administrators. The support staff included a secretary, office clerk, supply clerk, and a maintenance person. The staff included fourteen classroom teachers, a guidance counselor, librarian, speech therapist, reading improvement specialist, and learning resource specialists. Other specialists included talented/gifted, English as a Second Language, art, music, culture, physical education, a school nurse, and a JROTC instructor.
The school was opened so high school students did not have to travel to Seoul for school and reside in dorms. In 2006, the year it closed, the school had about thirty staff, including teachers, clerical, and other employees. In that year, about seventy-one students were from the U.S. military community. The other twenty-four were U.S. citizens whose families worked in the Busan area. They paid tuition, ranging from about $14,640 to $16,830 per year.
Staff and students at Pusan American School entered 2006 knowing that year was also the school’s last, and they aimed to “go out with a bang.”
The school closed after forty-six years because it was located inside the Army’s Camp Hialeah, which the U.S. military vacated and turned over to South Korea in 2007.
Ninety-five students in grades Pre-K through 12 attended the school, which was part of the Department of Defense Dependents Schools system.
“There’s a sadness in the closing but there’s also a celebration — to go out with a bang and make the year a very memorable year,” said Principal Keith Henson.
The school mascot was the Panther.
Based on information from DoDDS-Pacific Region 1946-1986 publication, DoDDS School Information Guides and other sources