Welcome Back, DoDEA Students and Families

Nearly 19,000 students are headed back to schools at the Department of the Department of Defense Education Activity in the Americas.

“Happy New (School) Year!” said Dr. Judith A. Minor, Americas Director for Student Excellence. “DoDEA Americas begins this year with students on-site and ready to learn. We are especially excited about this school year, which marks the 75th Anniversary of the founding of DoDEA.”

DoDEA's beginnings can be traced back to the end of World War II with the establishment of the Department of Defense Dependents Schools in 1946. Since our first makeshift classrooms, we have faced earthquakes, volcanos, hurricanes, and much more. But until last year, we never had to take on a global pandemic.

“I’m proud of the remarkable dedication and resilience of our DoDEA students, families, teachers, and administrators. We got through a tough year by working together, believing in excellence and putting safety first,” said Minor. “Everyone is eager for a more normal start to the school year. We approach this shift with an abundance of caution and will continue to monitor the latest coronavirus data and health protection conditions.”

Back to School Highlights

• Health and Safety: We begin the new school year with a commitment to remain vigilant, keeping the health and safety of our students and teachers as our top priority. In that spirit, DoDEA unveiled a new version of its COVID-19 Operational Guidelines and Protocols for Schools.
• Free Student Meals: We are committed to providing healthy and safe school meals to our students. That is why we are happy to announce the U.S. Department of Agriculture is extending free student meals for all students through June 2022. This extension provides children with healthy, nutritious meals for this school year, regardless of the instructional setting (in-person, remote, or virtual).
• Fall Sports: We are very excited to announce that DoDEA schools will have full participation beginning this fall in high school sports, to include practice and competition with other schools. This decision is based on current health trends; DoDEA will continue to monitor the latest COVID data and health protection conditions – or HPCONs.
• Call for Substitute Teachers: We are always looking for quality substitute teachers and educational aides to serve in our schools. It’s a great way to see how DoDEA works firsthand and to get involved in our children’s education.

 
Our Students

DoDEA Americas graduates are ready to succeed in a dynamic world. Last year, we graduated 415 students. About 312 of those students are now headed to college with an impressive $10.1 million in scholarships to support them on this journey. Our students also score above their peers nationally on standardized tests. And, we have some of the smallest achievement gaps in the nation.

Excellence in Education

Our work for excellence in education is driven by DoDEA’s Blueprint for Continuous Improvement. This Blueprint serves as the foundation for planning within DoDEA, directs our collective energies and resources, and is adjusted as progress is made and the environment shifts. Our DoDEA vision is for excellence in education for every student, every day, everywhere.

To support our pursuit of organizational excellence, we developed the Americas Regional Continuous Improvement Plan, which features three goals and seven focus areas. We are using this plan to be intentional about how we advance continuous improvement in teaching and learn systemically and systematically across our region.

New Schools

Last school year, we opened new state-of-the art schools at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina; Fort Rucker, Alabama; Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; and West Point, New York. We have projects underway this year at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama; and Forts Campbell and Knox, Kentucky.

About DoDEA Americas

DoDEA Americas operates 50 schools in seven states, Puerto Rico, and Cuba. There are two school districts and about 1,835 teachers and 550 educational aides. School locations include Camp Lejeune, North Carolina; Coast Guard Air Station Borinquen, Puerto Rico; Fort Benning, Georgia; Fort Bragg, North Carolina; Fort Buchanan, Puerto Rico; Fort Campbell, Kentucky; Fort Jackson, South, Carolina; Fort Knox, Kentucky; Fort Rucker, Alabama; Fort Stewart, Georgia; Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, South Carolina; Marine Corps Air Station Quantico, Virginia; Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama; Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren, Virginia; and U.S. Army Garrison West Point, New York.