Oliver Hazard Perry School History

Opened: 1958
Closed: 1991

Oliver Hazard Perry School was located twenty-eight miles north of Subic Bay Naval Base at the Naval Station referred to as San Miguel. The school was established in 1958 to provide educational facilities for dependents of US Navy personnel. The original school consisted of one wing and housed kindergarten through grade eight. High school students were bussed thirty miles north to Subic Naval Station. The school took the name Oliver Hazard Perry for the naval hero of the war of 1812. The school was composed of five buildings joined together by a covered breezeway. Most of the students walked to school and went home for lunch.

In 1967, the Department of Defense directed that all schools in the Pacific be administered by the Air Force. However, the Navy continued its strong support of Oliver Hazard Perry School.

The school serviced dependents of the Air Force, Army, Navy, and Marines. Because many families at San Miguel moved to Subic when housing became available, the student body was very transient.

Increased enrollments necessitated the addition of another wing of four classrooms in 1968. A year later, as a result of PTO fundraising, air conditioning units were installed. In 1972, a third wing of six classrooms was built to provide for the continuing growth of the school. The school could then accommodate 240 students.

O. H. Perry School had grades kindergarten through eight and the enrollment for the 1981-82 school year was 250 students with twelve educators. The staff included a guidance counselor/physical education teacher, a learning development teacher, a reading improvement specialist, a librarian, and a Philippine culture teacher.

The enrollment for the 1984-85 school year was 270 students. Sixteen classroom teachers and a Philippine culture teacher made up the staff. There were services for English as a Second Language, mildly handicapped, and speech and hearing impaired. The school had access to the base gym, swimming pool, ball fields, tennis courts, bowling lanes, and golf course. There was an active Philippine culture program including regular exchange visits with local schools and trips to the surrounding Filipino community. Each year a graduating program was held for the eighth grade.

In 1986, the school consisted of five flat-roofed concrete buildings joined by a covered breezeway. By the 1989-90 school year, there were 270 students enrolled in kindergarten through eighth grade.

The elementary was set to move into a new facility in the spring of 1990, and the school was closed at the end of the 1990-91 school year.

 

Information from DoDDS School Information Guides and DoDDS-Pacific Region 1946-1986

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