Verona ES (a.k.a. Borgo Milano School and Riverside School) History
Opened: 1956
Closed: 2004
Verona Elementary School was located in Parona, Italy, just outside the city limits of Verona, Italy. The elementary school originally had grades one through eight, then the ninth grade was added and, finally, grades kindergarten through eight. In 1954 there were three students at the base who took correspondence courses from Calvert School of Baltimore. The Elementary and Junior High School for U.S. military dependents was originally located in a converted shoe factory in Borgo Milano, a suburb of Verona, Italy. Most students in the 1950's had a parent assigned to the Verona's SETAF command. The Southern European Task Force was formed in 1955; Livorno and Vicenza also had SETAF elements. Other students had a parent assigned to the NATO command, LandSouth, also in Verona. By 1958 there were twelve teachers at the school and for the 1958-59 school year, the school had two locations, the original at Borgo Milano and a second location called Riverside Elementary School. Riverside had grades kindergarten through three and Borgo Milano had grades four through eight. The older students took the train to Vicenza to attend high school. In 1960 there were eleven freshman and forty eighth graders at the school. Extracurricular activities included a student council, a journalism club, a library club and a chorus. The school had a junior varsity boys’ basketball team.
The school continued to grow through the 1960’s. In 1965, the SETAF headquarters was transferred to Vicenza from Verona. At that time, American students in Verona dropped from about 750 to 125, and American schooling in Verona was consolidated to the Riverside School, with combination classes. Verona American Elementary, also known as Riverside Elementary was K–8 school after that. In 1960, thirty-eight students completed eighth grade. The students at the school came from three bases: HQ LANDSOUTH—a NATO command in the city of Verona with a pretty small contingent, WEST STAR—a communication facility on the Eastern Shore of Lake Garuda, and Ghedi Air Field—an Italian field with a small contingent of American airmen.
Long-time teacher Robert Generelli, who lived in Verona until his death in 2022 was the school’s advocate, historian and ambassador.
The building at Riverside had a one-floor design. There were seven classrooms, a learning resource center, a cafeteria, a multipurpose room, a faculty room and a health room. The community gym adjacent to the school was used for physical education.
In 1981-82 there were 115 students in grades kindergarten through eight. All grades had combination classes. Specialists from the Vicenza schools visited on a monthly schedule. The educational staff at the school numbered seven. The school enrollment and staffing remained consistent through the 1980’s.
For the 1989-90 school year the school received its first computers for classroom use: four Atari and four Apple IIGS. For the 1993-94 school year there were 90 students.
Students at the school participated in many local field trips and extracurricular activities. Of note were the student productions of Shakespeare plays and the annual Talent Show.
School administrators included Phillip Harr; Paul Thorne, Jr.; Wilma Holt; and Essie Grant.
In 2004, the Verona school was closed.
Information from Alumni Facebook page, Mary Generelli, and DoDDS School Information Guides