George Dewey HS History
Opened: 1956
Closed: 1992
In July 1956, sixty-one students and five teachers made up the first junior-senior high school organized under the principal, George C. Wright. The enrollment of 629 students during the 1957-58 school resulted in the hiring of thirty-two teachers and Robert Peck as a secondary principal. The school was located at Subic Bay US Naval Station. Dependents of families living at three local bases, Subic, Cubi, and San Miguel attended the junior/senior high.
A new school building was formally opened in March 1958. In order to meet accreditation by the North Central Association, additional teachers had to be added for home economics, shop, physical education, art, and music.
During the 1959-60 school year, the honorary journalism fraternity Quill and Scroll became the first national student organization to be represented at George Dewey. The Jungle Telegraph, the school newspaper, was published for the second year and became a regular part of the journalism curriculum.
With an enrollment of 340, the school was first accredited by North Central Association for the 1960-61 school year. All Subic schools changed from Navy to Air Force supervision in 1967.
A school cafeteria was built in 1974. In 1977-78, the science building and Byare Gymnasium were completed. There was a faculty of twenty-seven teachers, a nurse, a counselor, a media specialist, and a shared psychologist.
In the ’80s, co-ed physical education was added, and more computers were available to the staff and students.
By the 1981-82 school year, the facility consisted of nine modern, open-plan, one-story centrally air-conditioned buildings. There were twenty-nine classrooms, a library, gymnasium, a mini-theater, and a canteen. Additional spaces included the administrative offices, staff lounge/workroom, and counseling area. The faculty had twenty-five full-time teachers for 500 students in grades seven through twelve.
During 1986, a new cafeteria, music room, four additional classrooms, and covered walkways were added.
By the end of the decade there were 690 pupils at the school. Four new classrooms were completed in the 1987-88 school year. There were now thirty-five classrooms with forty full-time teachers.
The school closed in 1992.
Information from DoDDS School Information Guides, yearbooks, and DoDDS-Pacific Region 1946-1986