Department of Defense Education Activity: Difference between revisions

A 2015 editorial of the ''[[Minneapolis Star-Tribune]]'' noted that schools in the DoDEA, were well funded, partly due to post-[[September 11 attacks]] security concerns and partly because of the size of the DOD itself, as well as the leadership of [[Robert Gates]], who served as the Secretary of Defense. The ''Star-Tribune'' contrasted this with the lesser-funded [[Bureau of Indian Education]] (BIE) network, also federal and serving Native American students.<ref name=Milprosp>{{cite web|url=https://www.startribune.com:443/part-4-while-tribal-schools-suffer-military-schools-prosper/285642951/|title=While tribal schools suffer, military schools prosper|newspaper=[[Minneapolis Star-Tribune]]|date=2015-04-02|accessdate=2021-08-13}}</ref>

Sarah Mervosh of ''[[The New York Times]]'', citing [[National Assessment of Educational Progress]] scores and performance levels of racial minorities, wrote in 2023 that DoDEA campuses "quietly achieve results most educators can only dream of."<ref name=MervoshDoDEA2023>{{cite web|last=Mervosh|first=Sarah|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/10/us/schools-pandemic-defense-department.html|title=Who Runs the Best U.S. Schools? It May Be the Defense Department.|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=2023-10-10|access-date=2023-10-25}}</ref> The nature of military employment means that students have parents with jobs and support structures, and according to Mervosh, the DoDEA campuses are "well-funded, socioeconomically and racially integrated, and have a centralized structure that is not subject to the whims of school boards or mayors."<ref name=MervoshDoDEA2023/> That year, [[David Leonhardt]], also of ''The New York Times'', wrote that the DoDEA "has been performing well for years and continued to do so during" the [[COVID-19 pandemic]].<ref name=LeonhardtDoDEA2023>{{cite web|last=Leonhardt|first=David|author-link=David Leonhardt|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/10/briefing/defense-department-public-schools.html|title=The Nation's Top-Performing Public School System |newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=2023-10-10|access-date=2023-10-25}}</ref>

** The school first opened in 1921.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dodea.edu/Americas/midAtlantic/Dahlgren/index.cfm|title=Dahlgren Community|publisher=Department of Defense Education Activity|accessdate=2022-07-05}}</ref> The school's principal facility was built during [[World War II]]. In 2011 a review of the building found that it was in "poor" shape.<ref name=Hester/>

**The {{convert|129577|sqft|sqm|adj=on}} facility was scheduled to open in Spring 2016. It had a cost of $47 million. It has a two-story media center and a rooftop environmental science center, patio, and garden. The facility uses natural light and heating from geothermal sources. In 2015 the ''Star-Tribune'' described it as "state-of-the-art school design".<ref name=Milprosp/> It replaced Ashurst, Burrows, and Russell elementary schools in Quantico.<ref name=Hester/>

** On [[Fort Clayton]], it operated from 1968 to 1999.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://curundu.odedodea.edu/ |title=Home |publisher=Curundu Elementary School |date=1999-04-29 |accessdate=2022-07-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19990429131250/http://curundu.odedodea.edu/ |archive-date=29 April 1999 |url-status=dead}}</ref>