Humphreys American School (formerly ES) History
Opened: 2002
Closed: 2013
Originally, the school located at Camp Humphreys was an annex to Osan American Elementary School. In the nineties, the administrators from Osan Elementary supervised the teachers at the annex. According to Linda Kidd, a former assistant principal at Osan, in 1999 there was one kindergarten, one first grade, and one second grade classroom. Osan Elementary specialists for art, music, physical education, and Korean culture provided services to the Humphreys Annex on a rotating basis.
Humphreys American Elementary School held its first classes in a metal Quonset hut located near the commissary parking lot. At that time the school had two classrooms for kindergarten through second grade, with about thirty-five students. The school was opened as the base began to expand, since the schools in Seoul were closing. Donna Kacmarski was the principal for the new school, which opened in 2002. In 2003, Humphreys American Elementary School expanded to a kindergarten through six school and moved to the South Campus, which used to be the old bowling alley for the base. The enrollment reached 100 students. At that time, Principal Donna Kacmarski led five full-time teachers and a kindergarten aide.
The motto of the Amazing Eagles (later the Flying Eagles) was “Where children are our top priority.” The school had several extracurricular activities that were systemwide, district, and school sponsored. Systemwide activities included Math Olympiads, Red Ribbon Week, and Month of the Military Child. Local programs included clubs for yearbook, drama, homework, health, math, and chess. The elementary school also had a student council and special holiday events.
Five years after opening, the enrollment had increased to more than 300 students, and a Middle School was added. The middle school students were housed in the former bowling alley and the original elementary school. In 2008, the school was renamed Humphreys American School and became a Unit School with Sure Start through eighth grade. The school now had two buildings: the North Campus and South Campus. Ms. Joyce Diggs was the principal. By 2010 the middle school students were in a brand-new building which was in addition to the North and South campuses. The school added an assistant principal, Dr. William Hill.
By the 2010-11 school year, the school had over 500 students located on three campuses with a total of seven buildings. The next year, Ms. Wollman became the assistant principal. For the final year of the school, there were over 680 students enrolled. For the 2013-14 school year, two new schools opened to serve the students of Camp Humphreys: Humphreys Central Elementary School and Humphreys High School.
Humphreys American School was closed in 2013 when the new schools were opened.