Aviano MS/HS (formerly Aviano HS) History
Opened: 1974
OPEN
Aviano Middle/High School, which was previously Aviano American High School, is a secondary school located on the Italian owned NATO Air Base in Aviano, Italy. The base supports the 31st Fighter Wing. The majority of the students are dependents of active-duty military personnel, DoD employees, and contractors, although a small percentage are children of other than English speaking expatriates or local Italian residents. As of the 2008-09 school year, Aviano Middle School and Aviano High School were joined into one school serving grades six through twelve.
Prior to the 1974-75 school year, eleventh and twelve graders attended school in Vicenza and were five-day dormitory students. The seventh through tenth graders attended Aviano Junior High School.
The school colors are blue and red. The school mascot is the Saint. The first yearbook for the high school was published in 1975 and was called the Friulian. The school newspaper was the Scripture. The newspaper was later Saints Spirit and is currently the Aviano Times.
The first year of the high school there were about 470 students in grades seven through twelve. The coordination principal for the Aviano schools was Herbert Reynalds and the administrators for the high school were John Middleton, principal, and Warren Moyers, assistant principal.
The first athletic year included football, cheerleaders (varsity and junior varsity), golf, cross country, boys’ and girls’ basketball and wrestling. Females also participated in the Girls’ Athletic Association. The school had an active arts program which included a high school band, a mixed chorus and the first high school drama production, “Black Comedy”. Other clubs included a Motorcycle Club, Hikers Club, Varsity Club, Latin Classics Club, Archery Club, National Honor Society and National Junior Honor Society.
For the 1976-77 school year the drama program remained active and presented a production of “Damn Yankees”. The music program had a concert, stage and basic band as well as a Choir, Triple Trio group and junior high choir. Additionally, there were Majorettes and a drill team that participated with the band.
The athletic program continued to grow. The football team played teams from Livorno, Naples and Vicenza. For the first time there was a girls’ volleyball team. There were varsity and junior varsity basketball teams for boys and girls. A gymnastics program was added for women.
The extracurricular clubs reflected the times with a Black Student Union, the Azimuth Club which was an environmental club, a Gaming Club, Yoga Club, Teen Involvement Group and a Biking club. This was also the first year of the Lettermen’s Club and Future Business Leaders of America.
John Korslund was the principal for the 1977-78 school year with Sonja Egblomasse as the teacher/assistant principal. The enrollment for grades seven through twelve was about 410 students. The school had its first winning football season and the boys’ basketball team was undefeated.
For the 1981-82 school year staff of Aviano High school consisted of twenty-two classroom teachers, plus a learning development teacher, a full-time reading improvement specialist and a music teacher, a counselor and a host nation teacher. The school nurse was shared by all three schools in the complex. The enrollment by grade level was seventh grade – 67, eighth grade – 54, ninth grade – 52, tenth grade – 46, eleventh grade – 47 and twelfth grade – 34.
For the remainder of the 1980s, the school enrollment was around 300 students.
By the 1999-2000 school year the enrollment was approximately 475 students in grades seven through twelve. The school principal was Doug McEnery with John Alan Parkinson and Jimmy Jeffcoat as the assistant principals. Ms. Susan Page was the assistant principal the next school year. The students now participated in Model United States Senate and the Knowledge Bowl. In addition to the traveling sports teams there was an active intramural program. The school also had an Air Force ROTC program.
The new school complex for Aviano opened in September 2002. The building that now housed the elementary, middle and high schools had taken several years to complete. The original plan was to have two schools, an elementary and a high school. However, when the school was completed, the building was used for an elementary, a middle and a high school. Aviano High School now had students in grades nine through twelve. The new complex was a U-shaped building with a wing for the elementary and a three-story wing for the high school. For several years, the third floor of the high school housed most of the Middle School. The midsection of the building had the multipurpose room/cafeteria. The enrollment for the high school remained about 260 students for the next several years.
For the 2008-09 school year, the middle school and high school were combined and the school was now Aviano Middle/High School.
Aviano Middle/High School is still open and the enrollment for school year 2021-22 is 380 students in grades six through twelve. The principal is Dr. Mustapha Kahlouch and the assistant principal is Tabitha Huewitt.
Information from school yearbooks and DoDDS School Information Guides