Ansbach ES History
Opened: 1946
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The original Ansbach American Dependent School was located in Ansbach, a quiet, provincial city in Germany. The school was one of the first schools to open in Germany after World War II. Ansbach American School was part of the Erlangen district. The district has 115 students in fourteen locations. By the 1953-54 school year Ansbach had 233 students in grades one through eight. The school principal was Sarah Haverton.
By the 1981-82 school year, the elementary school consisted of buildings located on two sites 1.5 miles apart. The main school at Bleidorn Kaserne was composed of a masonry school building with ten general purpose classrooms, auditorium, library, storerooms, and offices. There were also two prefabricated one-room sheet metal structures. Kindergarten through third grade were located in the Bleidorn buildings. Grades four through six attended class at Barton Barracks where there were ten classrooms, a library, music room, and an office in a converted Army building. Another three classrooms were located in a small wooden building. A reading improvement specialist, counselor, physical education teacher, media center specialist, and two learning disabilities specialists served both school locations. There were 730 students in grades K–6 for the 1981-82 school year.
The new Ansbach Elementary School opened its doors in 1986 and was located at Katterbach. At that time the elementary school was part of the K–12 Ansbach Elementary/High School. The school consisted of an elementary school and high school separated by the high school football field. The new modern brick building had a kindergarten classroom, fourteen general classrooms, a multi-purpose hall, an art room, a media center, a music room, and offices.
The school mascot was the Mini Cougar and is now the Cougar Cub. The school colors are blue and yellow.
By the 1989-90 school year the elementary and high school were separate schools again. Ansbach Elementary School was now a first through sixth grade school. The school had fifteen general purpose classrooms and classroom/spaces for specialists and support staff.
By the 1993-94 school year, the enrollment had fallen to 350 students in grades one through six with thirty-six faculty and staff.
By the year 2000-01 the enrollment was about 300 students and remained at that level through the 2003-04 school year. The enrollment then dropped to approximately 250 students. The enrollment has remained at that level for several years. The school now has PSCD through fifth grade. Students attending the school live in the Bleidorn, Katterbach, and Urlas housing areas of the Ansbach military community.
Many student activities and organizations were available to students in the first decade of the millennium. These included Student Council and clubs for music, art, drama, French, chess, Scrabble, stamping, homework, and computers. The students could also be part of the Ambassador Club. This club welcomed new students to the school, conducted tours of the school for visitors, created a school handbook, and assisted the principal with special events. Special events included a Walk to Iran activity, Math Olympiads, Peer Counseling, Wacky Wednesday Wonders, and Red Ribbon Week.
Ms. Dorothy Behm was the principal when the millennium began until the end of the first semester for the 2002-03 school year. Then Mr. Carl McClelland became the principal and remained the principal until the 2007-08 school year. The next principal was Ms. Essie Grant. The school principal for the 2022-23 school year is Mrs. Renneeke Gamble.
Information from DoDDS School Information Guides and school yearbooks