Böblingen ES/MS History
Opened: 1954
Closed: 2015
The Boeblingen Elementary Middle School was located on Panzer Kaserne, a US Army Post approximately two miles from the city of Boeblingen near the large city of Stuttgart, Germany. Years ago, the Schönbuch forest covered what is now known as Panzer Kazerne, home of Boeblingen Elementary School. In 1937, half of the forest was cut down to make room to build the base to house German military operations. At the end of World War II, it became an American base for the occupying forces. The building itself was a barracks for the troops but was used as the school when soldiers’ families were allowed to accompany them for their tours in Germany. The school consisted of a single, four-story building which was formerly a German Army Barracks. The school had over forty general purpose rooms with a library, auditorium, cafeteria, and offices. The playground was over five acres with approximately one acre hard topped.
When the school opened in 1954, there were 789 students enrolled in grades K–6. Ms. Dorothy T. Hamilton was the first principal. The school mascot was the Bulldog.
For the 1981-82 school year, the school still had students in grades K–6 and an enrollment of 340.
At one time, the school was for kindergarten through eighth grade, with over 1,000 students! It was so crowded that they had several portable classrooms located on the playground so they would have rooms for all students. Eventually, the school changed to K–6, and junior high students went to nearby Patch Barracks. The building underwent a major renovation in 1987, making it one of the nicest schools in DoDDS. In 1991, after the Persian Gulf War, the military drawdown began, and the enrollment dropped from 550 students that year to 170 in 1996. Also in 1991, there was a sister school in Messtetten, a small base sixty-six miles to the southwest. The school in Messtetten sat high on top of a hill. Six students and one teacher, Mr. Jack Dugan, spent their days learning together like some of the early settlers in America. They had just one room for all the students, but they represented grades one through five. By working together and depending on each other, this special group of people overcame the inconveniences of such a remote location. The students from Messtetten joined students in Boeblingen on special occasions like Field Day and Jump Rope for Heart.
For the 1989-90 school year, there were 420 students in grades K–6. The staff included learning disability teachers, compensatory reading and math teachers, a counselor, speech therapist, art, music, physical education, gifted education, and a host nation teacher. By the 1993-94 school year, the school was redesignated as a K–8 school with an enrollment of 220 students. For the 1994-95 school year, the school was again an elementary school with 190 students.
Janette Johnson was the school principal for the 1991-92 school year and Janet DiRienzo was the vice principal. Mr. Charles Callahan was the principal for the 1995-96 school year and the school staff totaled twenty-five.
Student activities included Kids Klub, keyboarding, science club, and student council. Students also participated in an annual school volksmarch, the regional Geography Bee, field day, and school dances. Sixth grade students had a study trip to Italy.
The administrative team for the 2006-07 school year was Dr. Harriet Hunter-Boykin, principal, and Debbie Strong, vice principal. The school had a new middle school with twelve classroom teachers. A new school activity was the sign language club. Dale Moore became the principal from 2008 to 2013, and his assistants included Toufy Haddad (2008–2010), Jason Sheedy (2010–2012) and Dr. Thomas Thomson (2012-13). The school’s enrollment during the first decade of the millennium ranged from 550 to over 700 students in grades kindergarten through eight.
The 2007-08 school year was filled with many opportunities and visitors including two Congressional teams evaluating our physical facility, our NCA (accreditation) visit, Reading Recovery review, Special Education Monitoring, AFAP puppet shows, and Irish Dancers. The school achieved much as productive partnerships with parents and the Command were formed. Through effective collaboration and much hard work, the school accomplished and engaged in activities such as the annual Terra Nova assessment, an engaging African American History Month Program, a great African American Wax Museum Exhibit, Dr. Seuss activities, Family Reading Nights, Women’s History Month recognition, Band concerts, an exciting Time Travelers’ Club, a VFW Essay Contest, National History Day competition, Awards Assemblies, Success Parties, Talent Shows that included teachers and students, and many other events.
Ms. Susan Morris was selected as the DoDEA teacher of the year for the 2009-10 school year. Boeblingen Elementary/Middle School was honored as a National Blue Ribbon School in 2012.
For the 2013-14 school year the principal was Sonja Rodriguez. The final year of the school a preschool was added, and the enrollment was approximately 700 students.
The school closed in 2015.
Information from DOD School Information Guides and school yearbooks