A little history of the school we called

Asmara American School

Did you know that the real name was......................

The General Robert E. Lee School

When dependents first arrived in Asmara, school age children were enrolled at the British School in downtown Asmara. Then on April 1,1951, the radio Marina School began its first academic year. The school had one room, one teacher (a dependent wife), 13 students in grades one through five, no books and no supplies. The curriculum was designed for an 11 month academic year with September set aside as vacation. As the dependent population increased, the school enrollment mounted proportionately and rapidly outgrew the one-room facility. When the school's first teacher departed, a security guard taught the first three grades in the morning, and the fourth, fifth and sixth grades received distaff attention in the afternoon. The first civilian contract teachers arrived September 16,1953. The enrollment at the time was 75 students in eight grades.

By the summer of 1955, the $60,000 Robert. E. Lee Dependent School was nearly finished and the perimeter wall was halfway completed. The school and three air force type barracks had been given priority. The school was remodeled from an Italian building and had five classrooms, a science lab and a library. The school was affiliated with the U.S. Army Dependents Education Group in Europe July 1,1959. In order to become accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary School, Kagnew's school had to add 12 new classrooms by the end of FY 1961. The school was to last until Kagnew Station closed in 1975.

From "The history of Kagnew Station" with permission of Rick Fortney