A teacher and some of her prekindergarten students enjoy lunch at Daegu Elementary in South Korea in October 2024. Pre-K was added in 80 of 90 Department of Defense Education Activity elementary schools, with more to be added in the coming school year. (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers)
KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany — Ramstein Air Base this fall will allow parents to begin their children’s educational journey sooner, with the introduction of prekindergarten at the Kaiserslautern Military Community’s only elementary school without it.
During a visit to Germany this week, the head of the Defense Department’s school system, Beth Schiavino-Narvaez, discussed plans to expand preschool to Ramstein Elementary School and five more locations in the near future.
Pre-K was implemented this school year in 80 of 90 DODEA elementary schools. The free program, available for children who turn 4 on or before Sept. 1 each year, was offered at all but five of 34 primary schools in Europe.
Of those five, which were left out due to lack of space for the program, Ramstein and Kleine Brogel Elementary School in Belgium are getting pre-K in the fall, said Schiavino-Narvaez, who took over as DODEA director in June.
Her trip to visit a handful of schools in Europe allowed her to trumpet that rollout and other DODEA initiatives.
“There was cheering when we were able to bring it on,” Schiavino-Narvaez said of prekindergarten. “Families, our staff all recognize how important a strong foundation is for our students.”
All four other schools in line to get pre-K in the near term are at Fort Campbell, Ky., with implementation dates yet to be announced. The quartet consists of Barkley, Olinto Mark Barsanti, Andrew Lucas and Marschall elementary schools.
At Ramstein, the pre-K classroom will be at the elementary school, where “they’ve been able to figure out the space” with only minor construction needed, Schiavino-Narvaez said.
More than 4,000 students are enrolled in about 250 pre-K classrooms across DODEA this year, the director said.
Germany will have three of the four remaining DODEA schools without pre-K: Aukamm Elementary School in Wiesbaden as well as Wiesbaden and Ansbach elementary schools. The final entrant on that list is Parker Elementary School at Fort Novosel, Ala.
No timeline for those schools has been set due to construction needs.
Schiavino-Narvaez also addressed a slower-than-desired hiring timeline in DODEA, saying she hopes a change in hiring policies will speed up the process to bring certified teachers on board for all grades.
DODEA now has 100% reciprocity, accepting valid teacher licenses from any state, the director said. The new policy helps military spouses and increases the pool of qualified applicants.
Two years ago, the agency fell 12 percentage points short of its goal of having 100% of certified teachers in the classroom on day one, Schiavino-Narvaez said, due to constraints in getting new hires on board quickly.
“We’re an international school system,” she said. “It takes time for people to get where they need to be when you hire them.”
This past school year, 95% of classrooms had a certified teacher on opening day, Schiavino-Narvaez said.
“We’re not done,” she added. “We’re looking at what other policies, practices can we get after. We continue to work at it.”
