Tunner JHS (formerly Rhein Main JHS) History
Opened: 1961
Closed: 1995
Rhein Main Junior High School was originally part of Rhein Main Dependents School, which was located in Gateway Gardens, the housing area for Rhein Main Air Base. As the enrollment increased at the dependents’ school, it was divided into an elementary and junior high school. The schools were located in the same building complex and were connected by the cafeteria and media center.
The administration for the 1963-64 school year was principal Dr. Long and assistant principal Robin Gartner. Dr. Long was principal for several years. Student activities in the sixties included a band, chorus, student council, lettermen’s club, and Red Cross Council. There was a ninth-grade basketball team and a seventh- and eighth-grade basketball team.
The yearbook was originally called The Talon. Later, each yearbook staff chose the name for the yearbook. The school newspaper was the Falcon Flyer and was later called Tunner Times. The mascot was the Falcon.
The junior high school, which was built in 1974, consisted of a main building divided by four stairwells, an annex with additional classrooms, and a gymnasium. There was an outdoor basketball court, and later, a skateboard ramp. The cafeteria and media center were next to each other. Prior to the building of the junior high school, the junior high was located on the top floor of the elementary school.
The junior high had fourteen regular classrooms, an Education Resource Center, four science labs, a home economics room, a gifted and talented classroom, a business education room, a teachers’ lounge, and administrative and counselors’ offices. It also included a separate facility housing the art, music, and industrial arts classrooms, plus a gymnasium with locker rooms.
Dr. Fred Killian was principal from the mid-seventies until the 1980-81 school year, when Wendell Buntain became the principal. Adrian “Ed” Fahey was the assistant principal from 1978 until the 1986-87 school year.
By the late seventies, some junior high students took classes at the Darmstadt Career Center, and the school had a business enterprise program—Project Decide. The first year of the Talented and Gifted program was 1979-80.
For the 1981-82 school year, there were twenty-eight professional staff for the 400 seventh through ninth graders.
The name of the junior high school became William H. Tunner Junior High School by the 1987-88 school year. That year the staff consisted of two administrators, twenty-three classroom teachers, four specialists, three paraprofessionals, and three office/supply personnel. There were 425 seventh though ninth graders.
Paul LeBrun was the principal for five years beginning with the 1981-82 school year. For the 1986-87 school year, the administrative team was principal Michael Duff and assistant principal Jeff Hagmeier. The next school year, Dr. Karen Kroon was the principal. Dr. Gayle Vaughn-Wiles became the assistant principal for the 1988-89 school year.
Extracurricular activities that were added in the eighties were intermural sports, Project Bold, Dungeons and Dragons Club, Computer Club, Collectors’ Club, Math Club, and Talent Pool. Students participated in an annual ski trip and outdoor education activities. Several students presented at the European Junior Science and Humanities Symposium. During the 1982-83 school year, the entire school participated in an hour-long weekly reading program called Super Quiet Reading Time (SQRT).
The school had its first student teachers for the 1988-89 school year.
The sixth grade was added to the school for the 1989-90 school year. Mary Kubas Meyer and Jerry Smith, principal and vice principal respectively, were the administrators beginning in 1990-91. For the 1993-94 school year, there were over 300 students in grades six through nine. The faculty consisted of two administrators, thirteen classroom teachers, six specialists, six paraprofessionals, and three office/supply personnel.
At the end of the 1994-95 school year, the elementary and junior high were combined and became Halvorsen-Tunner Elementary/Middle School. The ninth grade went to school at Frankfurt High School.
Information from DoD School Information Guides and school yearbooks