What are your experiences with DOD Schools overseas for dependants; both elementary and high school?

2014-06-04T23:18:12-04:00

Response by MSG Wade Huffman made Jun 5 at 2014 4:32 AM

2014-06-05T04:32:13-04:00

My children both attended DoDDS schools in England (RAF Menwith Hill) and Italy (Vicenza) and my daughter graduated from Vicenza in Italy, so we had children in elementary, middle and high school with DoDDS. Our family experience with DoDDS was overwhelmingly positive. (granted, I've been retired since 2006 so I can't speak to any changes since then). Class sizes were generally smaller than in stateside schools, the staff and administration were active in the community and were always very helpful.
The only negative we encountered was at the high school level with the availability of honors classes. Vicenza was a relatively small school so they couldn't offer as many honors classes, but they were starting to do distance learning through VTC at the time my daughter graduated so that may not be as much of an issue anymore.
I hope your experience is as positive as ours was!

Response by SGT Mark Sullivan made Sep 24 at 2014 5:58 PM

2014-09-24T17:58:31-04:00

I cannot reply on how overseas DoD Schools are run, but I will say that DoD Schools on Ft Campbell were outstanding. Very good all around education, they included recess in every day functions along with a well rounded curriculum. My kids went into culture shock when I got out and moved back to Virginia, the Virginia Beach Public Schools did away with recess, because some egghead decided children need only structure throughout their day.

Response by Lt Col Charlie Brown made May 5 at 2022 7:17 AM

2022-05-05T07:17:21-04:00

We thought they were great. Responsive, tended to be small. Teachers accessible. Our son went to DoDDs from 1st through grade 9. He transferred to an excellent stateside HS and had no problems keeping up with the work. Won 3 awards, and two scholarships. We retired in 2000 so we are some years out of date.