Livorno ES (formerly Camp Darby ES) History
Opened: 1955
Closed: 1994
Livorno Elementary School was located on Camp Darby which was halfway between Livorno and Pisa, Italy. The original elementary school was kindergarten through eighth grade and was known as Camp Darby American Elementary School. Prior to 1955, the schools in Livorno were part of the Austrian Occupation Forces as Leghorn American School and became Livorno schools when the occupation forces left Austria in 1955.
The first annual for the school was published in 1957; however, prior to that the eighth grade published an eighth-grade yearbook. Richard Hostrop was the principal for the first three years of the school in Livorno. The eighth-grade class of 1956 had twenty-six students with thirty students the following year.
The principal gave a history of the school in his remarks for the 1957 yearbook including the history as Leghorn American School.
It would seem fitting in this, our, first school annual, to review the developments which have led up to our present school system at Camp Darby.
The first dependent school opened its doors on September 18th 1951 to 20 children in grades 1-8. The school was located in a small converted Villa near the sea in Ardenza.
The school was moved to the first floor of the Corallo Hotel for the 1952-53 school year which saw an enrollment of approximately 150 students and a staff consisting of a principal, six American teachers, an Italian language teacher and a secretary. In addition to grades 1-8, supervised correspondence courses were offered to high school students.
The school once again was moved for the 1953-54 school year. The school was located in the Villa La Leccia in Salviano which is in the countryside just east of Livorno. The enrollment that year increased to a total of 180 students.
The fourth move occurred in the 1954-55 school year to its present site at Camp Darby. The children, parents and teaching staff were very proud of their fine new school which was proclaimed in press release as being «the most beautiful Army school in the world». The new school was immediately put to good use since the September enrollment showed a student body consisting of 357 students in grades kindergarten through the ninth grade. The staff consisted of 14 American teachers, three Italian teachers, a principal and a secretary.
This school year completes our third year of operation at our present site. We have increased from an enrollment of 20 students five years ago to more than 440 students today. In addition, we now have our own high school which opened for the first time during the 1955-56 school year.
More satisfying than our numerical growth and continued improvements in school facilities, however, has been the tremendous growth shown in the number of very worthwhile exchanges with our school friends in the local Italian communities. Students and teachers can well be proud of the significant achievements which they have made over the past five years in promoting, fostering and furthering those ideals of world peace and understanding which both Americans and Italians are constantly striving to achieve in order that each individual throughout the world may ultimately know the joys of Life, Liberty, and The Pursuit of Happiness!
In 1959, the principal was Thomas Hedden, and there were seventeen faculty with two classes for each grade level. The total enrollment was just under 400 students in grades kindergarten through sixth.
The elementary school had eighteen classrooms, a faculty lounge, a health room, a reading improvement room, learning development and speech therapy rooms, and a media center. Two classrooms were utilized as an audio-visual room and an art room. The cafeteria and gymnasium were shared with the high school.
For the 1981-82 school year there were ten classroom teachers at the elementary school for the 275 students enrolled in grades kindergarten through six. The reading specialist, learning development teacher, speech therapist, counselor, and part-time school nurse were assigned to the complex and served the elementary and high school. The staffing and enrolment remained consistent through the eighties.
In the nineties, the staffing remained constant with the enrollment fluctuating between 180 and 210 students in grades kindergarten through six. David Jennings was the principal beginning in the 1990-91 school year. For the 1993-94 school year, the principal was Robert Kithcart, and the enrollment for kindergarten through six grade was 170 students.
The elementary and high school combined for the 1994-95 school year to become Livorno Unit School.
Information from school yearbooks and DoDDS School Information Guides