Giessen MS (formerly Giessen/"Giesbach" JHS) History
Open: 1971
Closed: 2007
Giessen Junior High School was referred to locally as “Giesbach”. This name was adopted as a way of representing students from Butzbach in addition to those from Giessen. The name “Giesbach” resulted from the fusion of the names of the towns Giessen and Butzbach. The Giessen military community housed kindergarten through 9th grade; students from 10th grade on were bussed to Frankfurt High School. Butzbach, a significantly smaller military activity, was approximately thirty to forty-five minutes from Giessen and housed kindergarten through 6th grade of elementary school. Students were bussed to Giessen for junior high, 7th through 9th grades. Higher grades were bussed to Frankfurt High School.
For the 1981-82 school year, the Giessen American Junior High School had an enrollment of approximately 325 students in grades seven through nine. That year the faculty included twenty classroom teachers, a counselor, reading improvement specialist, and a learning development specialist. The school nurse and psychologist were shared with the elementary school.
The junior high shared the post gymnasium and locker room with the military community. The school had a small, but well-equipped media center, a supply room, and both a teachers’ lounge and a teachers’ workroom. The facility also had specially designed rooms for industrial arts, human ecology, art and business education. There weren’t any lunch facilities at the junior high school.
Giessen Junior High School became Giessen American Middle School in 1986 and had grades six through eight. The ninth grade was moved to the high school, and middle school concepts were put into place at the school. By the 1987-88 school year there were 325 students enrolled in the school.
The middle school had a faculty of twenty teachers, a counselor, a reading improvement specialist, and learning development specialists. The school facility had a small media center, a supply room, a teachers’ lounge and a teachers’ workroom. There were also specially equipped rooms for industrial arts, human ecology, art, and business.
The enrollment for the 1988-89 school year was about 400 students. By the 1993-94 school year the enrollment had dropped to just over 200 students.
Information from DOD School information guides and school yearbooks