About Our School

Stuttgart High School, formerly Patch High School, opened its doors in a brand new facility in August 2015. SHS is a Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) school. Our community consists of armed forces personnel, DOD civilians and contractors assigned to the Stuttgart Garrison, United States European Command, United States Africa Command and various support groups.

Patch High School, 1979-2015

Patch High School (PHS) is a Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) school located on a military post on the southern edge of Patch High School Stuttgart, Germany, a one-hour drive from the French border and a two-hour drive from the Austrian and Swiss borders. Patch is in the center of many historical and recreational areas. The Patch Community members consist of armed forces personnel and Department of Defense civilians assigned to the Stuttgart Garrison, United States European Command, Africa Command, and its various support groups.

PHS opened in 1979 with seventh to twelfth grade students. In 2006, two middle schools were established making PHS a ninth through twelfth grade high school. PHS offers a college preparatory program, to include a 9th and 10th grade integrated honors literature and world history program; fourteen Advanced Placement (AP) courses; three world languages - French, German and Spanish; an Advancement via Individual Determination (AVID) program; and Junior Reserve Officer Training Command (JROTC). As a result of rigorous academics and hard-working students, PHS has some of the highest TerraNova and AP scores in DoDEA Europe East.

Enrollment at PHS has greatly varied over the past ten years, from 407 students in 2006 to 815 students in 2013. To accommodate these students, the physical school is composed of four separate buildings: the main building, the annex, the gym and four portable classrooms. The main building is situated on several levels and has a unique architectural style, complete with green space courtyards, fish pond and waterfall.

PHS has outstanding extra-curricular programs, offering 15 sports over three seasons and nearly 40 student clubs. Based on a student participation survey in 2013, over 80 percent of PHS students are involved in extra-curricular activities. Athletics are important at Patch with over 67 percent of students participating in athletic programs. Historically, PHS has been a division II school, but in 2006 joined division I and has rapidly become competitive, winning numerous Division I European Championships.

Parents and volunteers are involved at PHS and actively participate in the success of our sport programs and numerous student clubs, in addition to Music Boosters, Parent Teacher Organization (PTO), School Advisory Committee (SAC) and Student Activity Fund Council (SAF). Support from the parents and Garrison community comes in the form of money, time, equipment and resources.

Patch High School officially closed June 30, 2015, with the opening of the new Stuttgart High School for the 2015-16 school year.

Patch High School History

The following text was published in the 1980 Andenken, which was the title of the Patch American High School yearbook.

Beginning as a dream in 1976, Alexander M. Patch High School laid its foundations after a ground breaking ceremony in June of 1978. Through a generous donation from the German government, the High School and its neighbor, the Elementary School, were granted 9.25 acres of terrain. On this land now sits a 6.5 million dollar High School complex with the latest and most interesting of architectural achievements. Most of these funds came from Congressional Appropriation. School directors hoped more money would be bestowed from the same source.

The design and construction was a joint German-American project, as the land will eventually go back to the German government. Also, for this reason, there are several special features included. Some examples that make this edifice unique are its insulation and gas heating systems, the Vivarium, the Zoo, the Forum, modern labs, outdoor classes, carpeting and Patch High School in 1979liquid blackboards. The High School is equipped with more than 400 rooms; numbered among those: an LRC, a music center, a gymnasium, the "Fish Bowl", special labs for business, cosmetology, art, drafting, industrial arts, home economics, science, typing and 21 all-purpose classrooms.

A sum of 400,000 DM [Deutsche Marks] was spent on total landscaping. This includes the many trees surrounding the building, the spectacular "Victoria Falls", and the equally impressive "Sahara Dessert". As a result of last year's particularly harsh winter and a few select acts of sabotage, the school was not quite ready to open on September 4th. Although the opening seemed a little hectic and unorganized, Patch High School officially opened its doors on the 10th of September [1979].