Ankara ES/HS (aka George C. Marshall ES/HS) History
Opened: 1980
OPEN
The Ankara schools were eventually located on Ankara Air Station, a small USAF installation situated near the village of Balgat almost three miles from the city of Ankara. Both the elementary and high schools were housed in the same modern structure that was built as a school. The elementary wing consisted of thirteen classrooms, a teacher’s lounge, a library, the nurse’s office, several learning abilities classrooms, and administrative offices for both school and sub-regional level. The high school occupied the other wing with a total of six general purpose classrooms, three science laboratories, an art room, an industrial arts shop, a business laboratory, a home economics room, and a library. The school also had a gymnasium, a multipurpose room, three tennis courts, and a football field. The cafeteria/auditorium was shared with base personnel.
At the beginning of the 1980’s the total staff for the school was forty, and there were 287 students enrolled in grades kindergarten through twelve. The enrollment reached 400 by the end of the decade. A computer room was added to the complex, and a new K-12 library was constructed for the 1988-89 school year. The library was accessible to both wings of the school.
The nineties brought several changes to student activities. At the beginning of the decade new clubs included the Humanities Club, the International Club, and an Art Club. During the 1994-95 school year, the first International Day was celebrated at the school. There were twenty-three nations represented in the exhibits. This became an annual event at the school and, later, almost fifty countries were represented. The newspaper was now called the Trojan Times, and the literary magazine, TROY (Trojans Reporting on You) was first published. National Honor Society and National Junior Honor Society students collected and delivered clothing and supplies to victims of the August 1999 earthquake in Turkey.
The girls’ volleyball team was the district champions for the tenth straight year during the 1994-95 school year. The cross country teams also reigned as Turkish champions during this decade. The school had its first female wrestler for the 1996-97 school year. Students participated in Model United Nations for the first time during the 1997-98 school year. An art and technology program started at the school and students competed in the regional and district competitions for Creative Connections, Junior Science and Humanities Symposium, and Math Counts.
In 1994 the Ankara Air Base closed, and the remaining military forces became the Ankara Support Group. The enrollment at the school dropped from 435 students for the 91-92 school year to approximately 200 students for the remainder of the decade. By the 1994-95 school year, about one-third of the students were not U.S. citizens. By the end of the decade, students at the school represented thirty-nine different countries.
The administrators during the nineties included principals Robert Marble, Sandra Daniels, and Joe Robinson. The assistant principals were David Jennings and Alice Benard.
The first Millennium graduation was a midyear ceremony held January 27, 2000. The administrators during the 2000’s included principals E.B. Stafford, Kathleen Reiss, Sheila Smith, and Dr. Marian Levette. Robert Schoff, Mustafa Bulut, Rosie Uluer, and Dr. Doris Brodie were assistant principals. The enrollment reached a peak of 285 students for the 2002-03 school year and was around 200 students for the other years.
Secretary of State Colin Powell visited the school during the 2001-02 school year. A new activity at the school for middle school students was the annual trip to Space Camp which began during the 2005-06 school year.
Ankara Elementary/High School, also known as George C. Marshall Elementary/High School is currently open.
Information from school yearbooks and DoD Dependent Schools Information Guides