Livorno HS History
Opened: 1955
Closed: 1994
Livorno American High School was located on Camp Darby which was halfway between Livorno and Pisa, Italy. The high school originally had grades nine through twelve and, eventually, had grades seven through twelve. Originally, the schools in Livorno were part of the Austrian Occupation Forces as Leghorn American School and became the Livorno schools when the occupation forces left Austria in 1955. The high school was originally known as Leghorn High and, later, the school was referred to as Darby High and Livorno High School until the late fifties when the school was always called Livorno High School.
The school was in existence since the 1956-57 school year. Mr. Andrew Pritschet was the principal and the student population started with thirty- three students, had a high of thirty-eight students and finished the year with thirty students. The Danube Chapter of the National Honor Society which was chartered in 1950 for the Salzburg American School in Austria was transferred to Leghorn High, later Livorno American High School.
The school colors were green and white and the original mascot was the Panther.
However, prior to this year high school students met in different buildings in the area and on base for supervised study. The meeting places included a villa in Ardenza Village, the Coralio Hotel which also served as the WAC building, the church and movie theatre on base, the Piazza Grande Building in downtown Livorno, and a farmhouse thirteen miles outside of Livorno. Before 1954, Camp Darby, the military location of the school, was hardly in existence. There were barracks and an elementary school building where some high school classes were held, but it was not a high school. Prior to this Camp Darby had been a part of the US Forces in Austria. When the troops were withdrawn from Austria in 1955, the Command at Camp Darby was the only one in Italy. Before the end of the year, SETAF was begun and schools were started in Verona and Vicenza.
The WAC Corps took up residence in what became the high school building. Within a year, the WACs were transferred and the old WAC building became Livorno American High School. Mr. Ray S. Randolph was the principal for the 1956-57 school year. There were six faculty members for the forty students. The school yearbook was The Vineyard. The school had a basketball team and cheerleaders for the first time. The basketball team went to the All-Europe High School Tournament in Germany. The school had two six-man football teams that played intramural games. The girls participated in an intramural program including several sports.
An active drama program presented three productions: “Our Town”, “Half Hour Please” and “Wantin Fever”. Other extracurricular activities included the Student Council, Junior Red Cross, the Teen-Age Club Council and the Chorus.
In 1958 the school officially became part of USAREUR. The school yearbook was part of a combined yearbook, Coupan, that included the schools in Livorno and Vicenza. The faculty for the 1957-58 school year increased to eight teachers for the seventy students in grades nine through twelve. The school published its first newspaper and the six-man football team now played base teams. The basketball team played Italian teams as well as the teams from Naples and Vicenza. The school activities added Explorer Scouts and a Youth Fellowship to the offerings.
The following school year the high school had grades seven through twelve and the faculty was increased to fifteen with an enrollment of about 160 pupils. The yearbook was Tesoretto and the newspaper was Darby Dart. For the 1959-60 school year, Mr. John Brewer became the principal. The newspaper was called the Panther Press. A photography club was added to the extracurricular activities.
During the 1960-61 school year, the school had its first counselor. The school again published its own yearbook and the school mascot became the Lion. The school newspaper was renamed the Lions’ Lantern. Additional activities were available to students including a debate club, a chess and bridge club and a stamp club.
There were three different principals for the next three years: Mr. Frank Leet, Mr. Royal LaPlante and Mr. Michael Coglianese. For the 1962-63 Mr. Charles Pulizzi was the assistant principal. During these years, the newspaper was called The Lions’ Latest, then Lion Hearted and, finally, Lion’s Roar. The junior high students were located in an annex building. The enrollment increased to 266 students for the 1964-65 school year.
In the fall of 1965, the school had an eleven-man football team and a new principal, Mr. Gordon Gardner. Mr. Gail Schoppert and Mr. John Love became the principal for the 1967-68 and 1969-70 school years.
In the seventies, the school faculty fluctuated between sixteen and eighteen and the student enrollment was between 180 and 200 students. For the 1976-77 school year, girls’ intercollegiate sports were added to the athletic schedule. Livorno now had a girls’ basketball and volleyball team and coed cross country, track and tennis. Football was replaced with soccer for the fall boys’ sport. Two foreign languages clubs, Italian and Latin, were added to the after-school activities as well as a radio club and a tumbling club.
For the 1977-78 school year, the school celebrated the return of football. The girls’ basketball team celebrated twenty wins in a row. The new principal was Dr. Daniel Gangsei. The school now had a Cooperative Work Experience program and teacher and library aides.
By the 1980’s, the high school consisted of eighteen classrooms in two buildings. One building was a two-story, dormitory-type structure and the other was an outlying building that housed the industrial arts and art room. A facility improvement project in the late eighties provided a renovated business lab, new science labs, interior and exterior painting, carpeting, new windows and doors, a new heating system, and a new human ecology lab.
The high school had 125 pupils in grades seven through twelve for the 1981-82 school year. There were eleven classroom teachers at the high school. 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. Since enrollment was low, teachers have small classes although they may have had several preparations. There were three different principals in the 1980’s: Dean Raines, Fidel Gaviola and David Gangsei. The enrollment ranged from a low of 94 students to a high of 165 students.
The enrollment began declining in the early 90’s with about 100 students by the 1993-94 school year. Although the enrollment was steadily declining in the nineties, a large variety of student activities were available including a strong music and drama program. The students also participated in exchanges with local Italian schools and visits to local towns. One such visit was during the 1990-91 school year when all the students from the elementary and high schools visited the towns of Collodi and Pescia for the day. The students had a tour of the Pinocchio Park and the Pescia Flower Show.
For the 1992-93 school year, Mr. Frank Calvano was the principal and Livorno American High School hosted the first ever Italy Math Counts competition for junior high students. AP classes were added to the curriculum and the school had its first Knowledge Bowl team.
Traditionally, Livorno American High School held graduation exercises at San Piero a Grado, a church in Pisa just west of the city center. The church is located where once was a now-disappeared port where, according to legend, St. Peter landed in Italy from Antioch in 44 AD.
The elementary and high schools were combined at the end of the 1993-94 school year and became Livorno Unit School for the following school year.
Information from school yearbooks and DoDDS School Information Guides