Naples HS (formerly JHS/HS, and Forrest Sherman HS) History
Opened:1952
OPEN
Naples High School was originally the Armed Forces Dependent High School, Naples and was first located in a hotel and then moved to the NATO Officers’ Club in the Vomero section of Naples. On the first of October 1952 a standard Department of Defense School was opened in Albergo Sant’Elmo with about forty-five students. There were five students in the graduating class that year. The original school building was located in a high area on Via Manzoni. The library’s large window offered a panoramic view of Naples Bay with a backdrop of Vesuvio.
In 1953 members of the senior class suggested that the school be named in honor of Admiral Forrest Sherman, the United States Chief of Naval Operations, who had died suddenly during that school year during a visit to Naples. The school opened in the fall of 1953 as Forrest Sherman High School. The Ring brothers, Bill and Stewart, suggested the school colors of green and white, after the colors of Coronado High School in San Diego, California. Both brothers had attended Coronado High School prior to their father being assigned to Naples in the summer of 1951.They also suggested the school mascot, the Wildcat. The colors and mascot continue to represent Naples High School. According to the end of year publication, Ciao, there were fifty-eight students that year with four graduating seniors.
Due to an increase in enrollment the high school was moved to a larger building on Via Manzoni in the Posillipo section of the city beginning with the 1953-54 school year. That year grades one through twelve were contained in the building under the name Forrest Sherman Schools.
In 1960, Forrest Sherman High School moved to another building further down Via Manzoni, across the street from the Scuola Svizzera, an international school run by the Swiss government. The panoramic view from the front of the school, overlooking the entire Bay of Naples with Mt. Vesuvius in the background, must have been the best view of any DoD school in the world. The school remained in that building until 1982. During that time the school eventually included seventh and eighth grades and the enrollment increased to over 600 students.
In the autumn of 1967, the Sixth Fleet flagship was assigned to Gaeta, Italy, having moved from Villefrance. Students in grades nine through twelve from Gaeta began attending Naples High School that fall.
In 1982, the high school moved to the Agnano facility, called the “horseshoe” because of its distinctive shape. There was a two-classroom annex and a shared gymnasium next door. The school was built in the crater of an ancient volcano that was still active in with an occasional vertical earth movement. That year the enrollment was 629 students in grades seven through twelve. Naples High School offered curriculum of vocational and academic classes with the majority of the graduating students going on the higher levels of education. The high school offered four foreign language programs – German, French, Spanish and Italian. The vocational department was comprised of a medical/dental program, electronics, business laboratory, industrial arts laboratory, drawing laboratory, home ecology, and cooperative work programs. The extracurricular program offered fifty-nine activities including scuba diving, sailing and skiing which were unique to the high school.
In 1984, the name of the high school was changed to Naples High School, in accordance with DoDDS policy to have school names better reflect their locations.
Naples American High School had an enrollment of 715 students for the 1987-88 school year. The school operated on a six-period schedule with periods averaging fifty-five minutes per day. Extracurricular activities met after school hours or during break or lunch. Late activity buses operated during the sports seasons. For this school year the administration consisted of a principal, a deputy principal, an assistant principal and a coordinating counselor. The faculty had thirty-five teachers, two educational technicians, two counselors, a librarian, a reading instruction specialist, an English-as-a-second-language teacher, a CWE/career information specialist, and two learning development specialists. Seventy-five percent of the faculty had master’s degrees or above.
By the 1989-90 school year the enrollment had decreased to 600 students. By the 1993-94 school year there were 510 students enrolled. By the 1994-95 school year the student body included a cross section of American, Italian, Turkish and Greek students. Military dependents from Chile, Greece, Great Britain, Italy, Philippines, Turkey, Germany and the United States were enrolled due to the fact that Naples was a NATO base. Almost 98% of the students were bused up to one and a half hours each way.
During the mid-1990’s construction was begun on a new US Navy Support Site north of Naples, near Gricignano di Aversa, which would eventually include all the support services located in Agnano and a large housing complex. New elementary and high schools were the first buildings opened at the US Navy Support Site. In August 1997 Naples Elementary School and Naples High Schools opened at the US Navy Support Site and welcomed 950 elementary and 560 high school students.
Naples High School continues the use of the traditional colors of green and white and the Wildcat mascot. Families from many nations are assigned to AFSOUTH (Allied Forces Southern Europe) and American installations in the greater Naples and Gaeta area. Students from the following nations have attended the school in recent years: Bulgaria, Canada, Greece, Italy, Poland, Rumania, Spain, Ukraine, United Kingdom, and the USA.
Naples High School has transitioned through the years from one room in a hotel to its present modern facility with Internet connectivity in every classroom. School programs have moved from correspondence courses to such state-of-the-art courses as the Cisco Networking Academy, Computer Services and Support, and advanced placement courses in English, mathematics, science, history, computer programming, and art. Support services are provided in English, reading, mathematics, and learning strategies. Students who are “in the middle” and show academic potential are provided support through the AVID program. Study trips, athletic competitions, and honors workshops ensure that students enjoy life beyond the classroom in the culturally rich environment in which families are located in Italy.
In 1994, Naples High added the Naval Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps (NJROTC) to the curriculum. The first instructors were Captain Mike Gruelli, USN (Ret) and MGYSCT Mike Copeland, USMC (Ret.) Captain Gruelli retired and was relieved by LT. Rod Light, USN (Ret) in 1997 when the school moved to the support site. MGYSGT Copeland left in 2008 and was replaced by SCPO Vincent Gilfoy, USN (Ret). LT. Rod Light retired and was replaced by CDR Niels Mateo, USN (Ret) in 2015. The unit earned many trophies in Exhibition Drill, Rifle Team, Academics and Orienteering. For several years, the unit hosted a sailing club with six sunfish sailboats. The unit received the Unit Achievement or Distinguished Unit every year since 2004. In 2016 there were sixty-five cadets in the program.
For the 2009-2010 school year, the Naples sports teams were Division II champions for cross country, boys’ volleyball, girls’ soccer and girls’ softball. Before the 2014-2015 school year, the continuing success of the Naples’ teams in Division II and its increasing enrollment caused the DoDEA Athletics to move Naples up to Division I in every sport except football. Girls’ Volleyball, Cheer, Tennis, Wrestling and Basketball had teams or individuals place second and third in Division I competition.
Naples High School is currently open.
Information from websites, school webpages, DoDDS School Information Guides