Giessen American High School was a Department of Defense Dependents School (DoDDS) on the grounds of the United States Giessen Army Depot near

Giessen Giessen, spelled Gießen in German (), is a town in the German state (''Bundesland'') of Hesse, capital of both the district of Giessen and the administrative region of Giessen. The population is approximately 90,000, with roughly 37,000 univers ...

(spelled ''Gießen'' in German),

Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major histor ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. Giessen American High School educated children of United States military, government and civilian personnel from 1985 until the facility's closure in 2007.

History

The high school opened in 1985 in what was then central

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

, after a period of construction that included the discovery of a 250-pound

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

-era bomb and intermittent protests by the

German Green Party Alliance 90/The Greens (german: Bündnis 90/Die Grünen, ), often simply referred to as the Greens ( ), is a green political party in Germany. It was formed in 1993 as the merger of The Greens (formed in West Germany in 1980) and Alliance 90 (fo ...

. The facility was notable for its placement in the midst of woodlands, surrounded by forest and foliage, such as rhododendrons and mushrooms, and has been described by those who worked there as "fairytale"-like and "prettiest

ampus Ampus (; oc, Empus) is a commune in the Var department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. The hilltop village of Ampus is situated 14 km northwest of Draguignan. See also *Communes of the Var department Th ...

in DoDDS Europe." Much of these unique attributes were due to environmental accommodations at the time of the school's planning and construction. Faculty and staff comprised a mix of

U.S. Government The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a fede ...

employees of the

DoDDS The Department of Defense Dependents Schools (DoDDS) are a network of schools, both primary and secondary, that serve the dependant, dependents of United States military and civilian United States Department of Defense (DoD) personnel in three ar ...

agency, military spouses, and independent contract civilians (both German and American). From 1985-1996, the facility taught children in grades 9-12 (typically aged 14–18), utilizing a curriculum designed to approximate (and meet the graduation requirements of) a typical United States public

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

. In 1996, continued drawdown of the United States Army presence in Germany led to a consolidation of school facilities, and students in grades 7 and 8 were moved to the high school location. At the time of its closing, the school was known as "Giessen American Middle/High School." Prior to the establishment of Giessen American High School, students took buses and trains to Frankfurt American High School and were often housed in dormitories during the week, returning to their sponsors (typically parents)' quarters in and around Friedberg, Bad Nauheim, and

on weekends and during holidays. The school closed in 2007, following the 2005 round of

Base Realignment and Closure Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) is a process by a United States federal government commission to increase United States Department of Defense efficiency by coordinating the realignment and closure of military installations following the end o ...

in Germany, in advance of the final closure of the Giessen Army Depot the following year. Though the grounds were returned to the German Federal government, they and the school buildings remained largely untouched in the years that followed, falling into disrepair. The Giessen American High School mascot was the mythological

Griffin The griffin, griffon, or gryphon (Ancient Greek: , ''gryps''; Classical Latin: ''grȳps'' or ''grȳpus''; Late Latin, Late and Medieval Latin: ''gryphes'', ''grypho'' etc.; Old French: ''griffon'') is a legendary creature with the body, tail ...

and the school's colors were red and black. The school's student athletes, clubs, and activities traveled throughout Europe on a weekly basis to convene and compete with students from other DoDDS schools. Notable athletic achievements include the Griffins winning the European Basketball Championship in 1994 and having three players represent the school on the DODDS All Star Team.

Notable alumni

* Benjamin Bryant

References

{{coord missing, Hesse Department of Defense Education Activity Educational institutions established in 1985 1985 establishments in West Germany Educational institutions disestablished in 2007 Schools in Hesse