Ekali ES History
Opened: 1972
Closed: 1989
Ekali Elementary School was located in Ekali, a suburb of Athens, Greece. It was a K–8 grade school. Most students walked to the school. The school was not on a military base, like other DoDDS schools. It was on the main road though Ekali and, more uniquely, it was formally a hotel. The lower grades were on the ground floor in an open classroom style in the various former lobbies and nooks and crannies of the hotel. There were lots of windows and an elevator. The middle grades were on the upper floor and stretched through the various hotel rooms where the dividing walls had been removed. The lockers were in the hallways. The playground was in the ravine on the backside of the building. Tetherball was the go-to playground activity.
From the opening to the closing (1972–1989), Mr. John W. Murphy was the principal. Mr. Rocco Trecosta was one of the elementary teachers in the early years and he hosted classroom plays. Greek was taught by the host nation teacher. In 1975 there were sixteen faculty and staff—Bruce Ballard, Alice Bukis, Carol Damm, Sandra Garrett, Ritsa Katharion, Marga Koskoris, Art Seldnay, Barbara Dickie, Rita Lambert, Ruth Mattson, Janelle Philon, Kitsa Tiflopoulou, Timmy Timothy, Nell Turbeville, Mary Cakiadis, and Lorna Muchmore.
The school downsized for school year 1974-75 eliminating the eighth grade. The school was closed in 1989.
Information from Gail D. Trecosta, student and John Murphy, student