Binictican ES History
Opened: 1959
Closed: 1992
Binictican Elementary School was completed and opened during the 1959-60 school year. The school was located at Subic Bay, Republic of the Philippines. It was a neighborhood school for grades one to six. It was located in the Binictican Enlisted Men’s Housing Area. In order to integrate school populations, it was later changed to accommodate grades four to six and two sessions of kindergarten. Grade three had also been included intermittently at the school.
Four separate buildings, connected by covered breezeways surrounding a courtyard, made up the original complex. Three air-conditioned buildings were added in 1975, providing eighteen classrooms, resource and pupil personnel centers, a music room, and a multipurpose room with a stage. Other classrooms and a cafeteria were added in 1977. In 1983, a new structure was completed to house students in classes for talented and gifted, mildly handicapped, reading, and the social workers’ office.
The school participated in some unique activities. From 1976, the Filipino–American Friendship Exchange was held intermittently at Binictican. For three days, about forty students and teachers from the school lived with Filipino families and attend classes with their hosts. Later, American students reciprocated for their Filipino friends. On two occasions, beginning in 1976, about 200 students from grades four to six, with teachers and chaperones, visited Grande Island for a two-day Outdoor Classroom Camp. Such classes as biology, jungle survival, surveying, water safety, and arts and crafts were held. A Career Day was held to promote career awareness and exploration.
Musical programs, such as Fiddler on the Roof and HMS Pinafore were performed for the community. Filipino artisans visited the school. The school printed a newspaper, The Bird’s Eye View. Clubs included science, drama, and Spanish. There was an active student council, and good citizenship awards were presented every month.
By the beginning of the eighties, the school consisted of seven modern, open planned, centrally air-conditioned buildings. There were eighteen classrooms, a media center, music room, and small multipurpose room. Office space was provided for the nurse and the administration.
For the 1981-82 school year, there were 480 students in grades three through six. By the 1989-90 school year, the enrollment had increased to 620 students.
The school closed in 1992.
Information from DoDDS School Information Guides, yearbooks and DoDDS-Pacific Region 1946-1986