Alconbury ES History
Opened: 1955
OPEN
RAF Alconbury is located in Cambridgeshire, primarily a farming and light industry area. The nearest large towns are Huntingdon, Peterborough, St. Ives, and Cambridge.
The first dependents’ school in the Alconbury area was opened at RAF Molesworth in 1951. Students in grades one through nine were enrolled. The RAF Molesworth School closed in June 1974 and its activities were relocated to the site at RAF Alconbury. The second school, Alconbury Elementary School, opened in 1955, and has since been supporting students through sixth grade, until the Alconbury Middle/High School became a 6–12 facility for the 2008-09 school year. Students whose families are stationed at RAF Alconbury, RAF Molesworth, and other stations nearby attend the Alconbury Community Schools.
Alconbury Elementary school was housed in four modern, one-story buildings. Later it was in three one-story buildings on one site with a limited playground. The buildings contain classrooms, a library, and a cafeteria.
During the 1981-82 school year there were 580 students in grades kindergarten through six with twenty-five staff members including teachers in the special areas of reading, learning development, speech, and physical education. Later, the staff increased to thirty-five staff members with additional teachers for art, music, gifted education, Sure Start, PSCD, foreign language, and host nation. Preschool classes were added to the school offerings. During the later years of the ’80s, there were about 400 students in grades K–6 with a staff of twenty-five. Thirty-four staff, including teachers in special areas of reading, special education, compensatory education, speech, physical education, art, music, talented and gifted, and host nation, provided educational services to the approximately 300 kindergarten through six grade students in the mid-nineties.
In the late nineties the principal was William Ramos. Glen Giles became the principal during the 1999-2000 school year, and his assistant for the 2001-02 school year was Beth Pond. During these years the enrollment was between 300 and 350 students. Beginning in 2003-04 the principal was Stanley Caldwell followed by Ora Flippen-Casper in 2008-09. The enrollment had dropped to about 250 students. When Dr. Terry Emerson became the principal for the 2012-13 school year, the enrollment had dropped to approximately 200 students. Dr. William Hill, who was honored as the DoDEA Europe 2019 Principal of the Year, was the next principal, followed by Netra Harwell for the 2020-21 year. The enrollment continued at about 200 students in PreK through five. Mr. Scott became the principal for the 2024-25 school year.
By the 2021–22 school year, the professional learning community included twenty-four classroom teachers and ten support personnel. The school served students in Preschool through fifth grade. There were about 200 students enrolled in the school. The current enrollment supports civilian and military dependents whose sponsors work at Royal Air Bases Alconbury, Molesworth, and Wyton.
Since opening, Alconbury Elementary School has had a proud history of drawing upon its unique community, diversity and staff to build a community of learners. The school had a thematic “Go Green Team” approach towards Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math (STEAM) initiatives, which included the Cambridge environmental services, PTA, and base engineers. Students were provided with hands-on building experiences with recycled materials, Read Across America activities, Amazing Reading Race, AES/AMHS STEAM Night, and Digital Robotics Competitions. Additionally, a mentor program that involved military parents and volunteers and the use of guest speakers and volunteers within the community provided an enriching and motivating educational experience for the students. In addition to the curriculum elements, students at Alconbury Elementary School studied British culture and participated in partnerships with base community support.
Activities at the school have included a strong drama program, annual Talent Show, Dr. Suess Day, Destination Imagination, Math Olympiad, Geography Bee, Spelling Bee, and an Artist in Residence program. Extracurricular activities have and still include choir, math club, science club, recorder club, a video club, and student council. CAMP KUDOS (Kids Understanding Deployment Operations) was established to support students while a parent(s) was deployed. Other programs with students supporting other students were Student Ambassadors and Heart to Heart Mentors.
The school’s mascot is the dragon, and the school colors are yellow and gold. The yearbook is called the Dragon’s Eye. The school is currently open.
Information from school website, yearbooks and DoDDS School Information Guides