Work begins on newest USAG Wiesbaden school on Clay Kaserne

Progress is underway at U.S. Army Garrison Wiesbaden, as construction begins on the new Clay Elementary School provide additional class space for the community's growing student population.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Europe District, in close collaboration with the Department of Defense Education Activity, the garrison and local German partners, is managing construction of a state-of-the-art school that will serve nearly 300 students.

“The garrison is excited to have a new elementary school here on Clay Kaserne,” said U.S. Army Garrison Wiesbaden Commander Col. Troy Danderson. “Our community has experienced a surge of personnel in recent years, which has been accompanied by a surge of families with school-age children. So the garrison welcomes and appreciates the additional, contemporary school facility that will support our Families. Because Family readiness supports mission readiness. We endeavor – alongside our DoDEA, USACE and other service agency partners – to connect our students to academic success, to their garrison community, and ultimately to their future success.”

This project is part of a broader effort to enhance military family life across Europe, with 17 new schools already completed as part of a $2.1 billion initiative.

Designed to foster innovation and creativity, the new school will feature flexible learning spaces, themed playgrounds, and advanced technology, all aimed at providing an exceptional educational experience.

“The Clay Elementary School is an investment in setting the conditions for success within the Wiesbaden community,” said DoDEA Europe-Director for Student Excellence Dr. Michelle Howard Brahaney. “By offering modern, flexible learning spaces and state-of-the-art educational resources, we are ensuring that our students have the tools they need to excel. This school will be more than just a building; it will be a foundation for success, where creativity, critical thinking, and collaboration will thrive, enabling our children to reach their full potential.”

Once complete, the new 21st-century design school will serve nearly 300 students from pre-kindergarten through 5th grade. The project also includes construction of new parking, a parent drop-off lane, emergency access lanes, bus loading/unloading areas, new playgrounds and more.

“This is a pretty large undertaking, building not only the school but the additional infrastructure, parking and community amenities that go with it,” said Europe District Senior Project Manager Frank Spiess. “It takes a team to deliver something like this and we’re working very closely with our garrison, DoDEA and German partners to make this project happen.”

The design will be similar to Wiesbaden Elementary School, which opened in 2021 and currently serves more than 700 students. That includes design concepts to enable educators to foster the critical thinking, creativity and collaboration Brahaney referenced, like moveable walls to maximize flexible use of space and outdoor spaces made to double as functional outdoor learning areas and gathering places and more. It will also be wired for the latest in educational technology.

“Even the playgrounds will be educational,” Spiess said. “In addition to being designed to foster health development for the kids, they’ll be themed after different continents around the world which should be really fun.”

While the school construction is really starting in earnest, the community on Clay Kaserne has already been feeling the impacts of the construction since this past fall. That’s because the first phase involved deconstructing empty housing and removing existing tennis courts and other infrastructure to make way for the new school’s footprint.

The deconstruction work is essentially complete and now work focused more on the construction of the new school is underway.

“We really appreciate the patience of the Clay Kaserne community as we continue with this project,” Spiess said. “Since it’s a school, it’s close to housing and that just makes it that much more difficult, but we’re working very closely with our garrison partners to minimize and mitigate the impacts to the community as much as feasible while still delivering a new, modern school the whole community will be proud of.”

Community Benefits

While a brand new 21st-century school is a significant addition to any garrison, the project will also deliver benefits for the broader USAG Wiesbaden community.

On top of the school’s playgrounds, multiple new playgrounds designed for different age groups ranging from two-year-olds to twelve-year-olds will be built adjacent to the housing north of the new school along with new cookout and gathering areas.

Once complete, brand new tennis courts will also be constructed to the northwest of the school to replace the tennis courts demolished to accommodate the new school’s footprint.

A new road to replace Aumannstrasse, which is within the new school’s footprint, will be built just north of the school and Aumannstrasse’s current path. The road will be constructed using recycled material from onsite, including pulverized concrete from areas cleared as part of initial site preparation.

“We’ve got loads of concrete from clearing the site that can be broken down and reused for the new road being built and for other project purposes,” said Europe District Project Engineer Ben Peschke. “Not only is it environmentally friendly because we don’t have to send additional materials to landfills, but it’s cost-friendly too because we can save money by reusing existing material on site and we also don’t have to pay to ship it off elsewhere.”

The project team is also working with garrison partners to explore opportunities nearby on Clay Kaserne to beneficially reuse excess soil dug up during site preparation.

Additionally, the walkability of the school site will reduce traffic on Clay Kaserne while also reducing the number of cars and busses traveling back and forth between Clay Kaserne and the other school sites throughout Wiesbaden.

Support to DoDEA

The new Clay Elementary School is one of the latest schools being built of a $2.1 billion design and construction program Europe District is managing to replace dated Department of Defense schools and facilities across Germany and Belgium.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been working hand in hand with DoDEA on the program for over a decade now. To date, 17 new schools have been turned over and are in use today, 7 are under construction like Clay Elementary School and 4 more are in still in design and pre-construction stages.

“At the Army Corps of Engineers, we’re proud of all of our work, but there is a special satisfaction in efforts that directly improve the quality of life for families, and especially children,” said Europe District Commander Col. Dan Kent on September 10, 2024, at the opening of the most recently completed new school in the program, the Brussels Unit School in Belgium.