DODDS, parents and students prepare for the next school year

By Geoff Ziezulewicz and Charlie Reed, Stars and Stripes, UK weekly edition, Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Brothers George, left, and Maxwell Taylor bust a move with a video dancing game at the RAF Mildenhall youth center on a recent afternoon. George, 9, and Taylor, 11, both attend British schools but spend the summers at the base facility.
Photo: Charlie Reed, Stars & Stripes

With school about to kick off another new year, a familiar refrain is being echoed in the halls of DODDS schools in the U.K.: Get your kids registered!

"I can't emphasize strongly enough the importance of registering or re-registering your children for school," Department of Defense Dependents Schools-Europe spokeswoman Margret Menzies said. "It affects teacher hires, classroom supply allocation and resources."

The realities of the military family make this an inevitable and recurring issue, Menzies said.

This week, the schools will be hosting a variety of new student and parent functions, and many high school sports will start practicing in anticipation of the upcoming season.

At Lakenheath High School, finishing touches are being made to a refurbished auditorium, one that serves the entire base community, principal Kent Worford said.

"I'm looking to hopefully have a grand opening on Sept. 9," he said. "We're looking forward to a great year."

Lakenheath High will host a freshman academy on Aug. 21, followed by new student orientation the next day, Worford said.

DODDS schools and students are unique in that each summer sends some students on their way while welcoming others due to

military members transferring.

Re-familiarizing themselves with DODDS schools is a challenge for the new kids, Worford said.

"Probably one of the most important things you can do is getting that kind into this environment, getting them into this school and getting them into a routine they can get used to," he said.

And despite the end of the lazy summer, Worford said most kids seem ready to come back in the fall.

"We have a lot of kids who have been hanging around and looking for something to do," Worford said. "This is their hub and their safe place. They're looking forward to this, and they want to see their buddies."

For kids such as 9-year-old George Kunkle, an American student attending British school, the summer break has been a bit shorter than the U.S. equivalent but still packed with fun.

George and his older brother, Maxwell, 11, spent their days off at the RAF Mildenhall youth center.

"I like being around Americans. I have some interest in going to American school," said George, who attends Riverside Middle School in Mildenhall and has an ever-so-slight British accent.

Born in Bury St. Edmunds, George has only attended British schools, something his dad said will give him a "broader perspective in life."

"My wife and I figured as long as we're here, why send them to English schools. Then they get the benefit of a whole different experience that will influence them the rest of their lives," said Taylor Kunkle, a civilian treaty compliance officer at Mildenhall.

Coordinating vacations and child care can sometimes be tricky because British and American holidays don't always coincide, but that's about the only issue the Kunkle said the family has experienced in the British school system.

"It's a wonderful school system, just as good as the American," he said. "We're not sacrificing anything."

Still, the curriculum and teaching methods are quite different, Kunkle said.

From religious studies taught through an academic perspective to woodworking, rich arts programs and "food technology," schools seem to offer a broader range of subject aside from the traditional reading, writing and arithmetic.

The Kunkle kids are two of 320 Americans attending non-DODDS schools in the U.K., according to DODDS officials.

Some are from families stationed at installations without DODDS facilities. In those cases, each student is eligible for $44,900 per year for private or public school and other school-related incidental costs such as transportation. DODDS is spending about $28 million this year to educate students in Europe and Africa who do not have a DODDS choice where they are stationed. About 2,300 American students are expected to attend non-DODDS schools on those two continents during the 2008-09 school year.

School Supplies:
Here is the general DoDDS-E school supply list. You will need to check with your school and your child's teacher to see exactly what it needed ... open >

Used with permission from the Stars and Stripes. © Stars and Stripes