Jonathan M. Wainwright ES/HS History
Opened: 1958
Closed: 1975
This school was formerly the Tainan Elementary School. It was named after Jonathan M. Wainwright, a Congressional Medal of Honor winner and general. The school was a U-shaped building with three wings. In 1959, a tent for the high school was placed between the library and the school fence. Partial residence study was combined with correspondence work. The first graduate of the school was Michael Holtz. Camping out in the tent was discontinued in school year 1960-61 when the partitioned youth center and snack bar became home for the high school. The school mascot was the Warrior, and the newspaper was Smoke Signals. The school yearbook was Dynasty.
In 1961-62, all junior high and high school students were accommodated in rented quarters in Tainan. The classrooms were on the second and third floors of the Tainan Chamber of Commerce building which was rented for $500 a month. A contract was awarded for construction of a new high school. Since correspondence courses were no longer available in Ping Tung and Tsoying, high school students from these schools were bused to Tainan. At this time there were sixty high school students. Three high school and eleven grade school students graduated.
The new high school addition in Tainan was occupied in September 1962. At the beginning of the school year, B.F. Hartzell became principal of Jonathan Wainwright. There were eighteen teachers employed, eight of them for the high school. There were 134 students in grades seven through twelve with two post graduate students, and 288 students in grades one through six.
Jonathan Wainwright High School received accreditation school year 1965-66. By this time, the school had grown to a population of nearly 600 students and 27 teachers. There were twelve graduates this year.
In 1969, kindergarten classes were added to the school. Madame Chiang Kai-shek was the guest speaker at graduation ceremonies for 37 Wainwright students, fifteen seniors and twenty-two eighth graders, in June, 1969.
By school year 1970-71, six new modular classrooms were added to the elementary school. The year 1972 saw the largest senior class in the history of Wainwright School. Twenty-seven graduates exited JMW. However, the population of the school steadily declined as the military bases in Taiwan were being phased out. By 1973-74, the school had a full sports program for men and women which included volleyball, soccer, basketball, badminton, archery, baseball and tennis.
In 1975, with fewer than 300 students and ten graduates, Jonathan M. Wainwright closed its doors.
Based on information from DoDDS-Pacific Region 1946-1986