Grand Forks AFB
North Dakota
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Nathan F. Twining Elementary And Middle School
History :
The Grand Forks Air Force Base has been in existence for nearly 50 years. The Grand Forks Air Force Base is located fifteen miles west of Grand Forks and has a population of about 4,900. The base is currently home to 48 KC-135 Stratotanker air refueling aircraft, along with all of the personnel needed to fly and maintain them. The base has been actively involved in the war on terrorism and in homeland defense, with members deployed overseas frequently.
Two schools, Nathan F. Twining Elementary/Middle School and Carl Ben Eielson Elementary School, are located at the Grand Forks Air Force Base. Since the 2002-2003 school year, Twining has been host to fourth through eighth grades and Eielson hosts kindergarten through third grade. Prior to the 2002-2003 school year, Twining School hosted kindergarten through eighth grade, while Eielson School hosted kindergarten through fifth grade.
Once the home of nearly 900 students, Twining Elementary/Middle School now has approximately 325 students each school year. The disappearance of student population is due to changing missions on the Air Force Base. After the fall of the Soviet Union in 1992, the Grand Forks Air Force Base's mission changed drastically.
The change in base population wasn't all bad though. With our smaller population, Twining School now has a much closer "family" than what was seen before. Prior to the change, Twining was separated into an elementary and middle school, with little interaction happening between the two different areas of the school. With our smaller population, we now have the ability to coordinate assemblies, after school activities, and PTO functions with both sides of the school. Classrooms now have a smaller teacher to student ratio than what was seen before the change. The Twining School staff is also more united now than ever seen before, which benefits all of our students.
Students in our school are unique in their own way due to being dependents of men and women in the military. It is seldom that we have students stay at our school for longer than 3 years, which makes it difficult for our school to truly measure progress of our students. A very small percentage of our students who attend fourth grade at our school are still here in eighth grade, which are the benchmark years for state testing. As a school on a military base, we also have students who transfer into our school at the beginning, middle, and end of our school year. Many of these students transfer in from schools in other states or Department of Defense schools, which do not always have the same level of standards as schools in North Dakota. Regardless of their past though, it is the goal of each faculty member to provide the best possible education for every student who walks through our doors.
The Grand Forks Air Force Base has been in existence for nearly 50 years. The Grand Forks Air Force Base is located fifteen miles west of Grand Forks and has a population of about 4,900. The base is currently home to 48 KC-135 Stratotanker air refueling aircraft, along with all of the personnel needed to fly and maintain them. The base has been actively involved in the war on terrorism and in homeland defense, with members deployed overseas frequently.
Two schools, Nathan F. Twining Elementary/Middle School and Carl Ben Eielson Elementary School, are located at the Grand Forks Air Force Base. Since the 2002-2003 school year, Twining has been host to fourth through eighth grades and Eielson hosts kindergarten through third grade. Prior to the 2002-2003 school year, Twining School hosted kindergarten through eighth grade, while Eielson School hosted kindergarten through fifth grade.
Once the home of nearly 900 students, Twining Elementary/Middle School now has approximately 325 students each school year. The disappearance of student population is due to changing missions on the Air Force Base. After the fall of the Soviet Union in 1992, the Grand Forks Air Force Base's mission changed drastically.
The change in base population wasn't all bad though. With our smaller population, Twining School now has a much closer "family" than what was seen before. Prior to the change, Twining was separated into an elementary and middle school, with little interaction happening between the two different areas of the school. With our smaller population, we now have the ability to coordinate assemblies, after school activities, and PTO functions with both sides of the school. Classrooms now have a smaller teacher to student ratio than what was seen before the change. The Twining School staff is also more united now than ever seen before, which benefits all of our students.
Students in our school are unique in their own way due to being dependents of men and women in the military. It is seldom that we have students stay at our school for longer than 3 years, which makes it difficult for our school to truly measure progress of our students. A very small percentage of our students who attend fourth grade at our school are still here in eighth grade, which are the benchmark years for state testing. As a school on a military base, we also have students who transfer into our school at the beginning, middle, and end of our school year. Many of these students transfer in from schools in other states or Department of Defense schools, which do not always have the same level of standards as schools in North Dakota. Regardless of their past though, it is the goal of each faculty member to provide the best possible education for every student who walks through our doors.