Chaumont American Family School History
Opened: 1956
Closed: 1966
Chaumont American Family School began as a grade one through eight school and then added ninth grade. The history of Chaumont American Family School was similar to many of the schools in France. The site was not beautiful or extraordinary. The base had many unfinished buildings, roads and lots of mud. During the 1956-57 school year the school was moved from several prefabricated buildings featuring pot-bellied stoves and an inadequate water supply to a modern “L” shaped school with modern conveniences.
Most families moved from the outlying villages to the newly completed housing area where the new school was located. As a result, there was a more consolidated community life. The small number of students and the geographic elements made informality in the classroom, dress and manner a trademark of Chaumont. The main part of a student’s social life centered around the school, A.Y.A. and private parties.
For the 1957-58 school year, there were three teachers for the junior high and the ninth grade was added to the school. There were eleven ninth graders, sixteen eighth graders and twenty-three seventh graders. The principal was August Amaral. Extracurricular activities included scouting for boys and girls, working with the Junior Red Cross and publishing the yearbook.
The school closed in 1966 when the American forces left France.
Information from the 1957 Vapor Trails combined yearbook