Department of Defense Dependents Schools
The Department of Defense Dependents Schools (usually shortened to just DoDDS) is a network of schools, both primary and secondary, that serve dependents of United States military- and other non-US - personnel. The schools themselves are operated by the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA). While there are a few DoDDS schools that operate on military installations in the United States, the majority of the institutions operate overseas. There are superintendents for three districts across the globe: the United States DoDDS schools, the Europe DoDDS schools and the Asia DoDDS schools. The Asia DoDDS schools are, for the most part, in the Far East on installations in South Korea and Japan. Turkish DoDDS schools are served by the European branch. Although the schools are primarily dependents of military personnel, U.S. government employees are allowed to enroll their children in the schools on a space-available basis. As most of these schools are situated overseas, a concerted effort is made to immerse the children in the local color. Language and culture courses are offered as early as elementary school, while advanced language courses and opportunities to intimately view the culture of the student's host nation are offered throughout high school. DoDDS operates under the old American standard in terms of grade levels; elementary schools run from pre-Kindergarten to sixth grade while high school serves seventh through twelfth graders. In addition, many universities from around the United States have set up branches on military installations so both dependents and military service members can continue on with higher education without having to leave their respective posts.
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