Construction begins on elementary school at U.S. Army camp in South Korea

The U.S. Department of Defense has broken ground on a $57 million elementary school at the U.S. Army Garrison Humphreys in South Korea.

Stars and Stripes reports that the 99,000-square-foot East Elementary School at Camp Humphreys is scheduled to open in March 2026. The school will accommodate 440 students and staff at first, with room to expand its capacity to 600.

The project also encompasses the creation of a multipurpose athletic field and a nature walking path. It will also have an outdoor learning lab, an outdoor classroom, a sensory garden and an ecology walking loop to contribute to the outdoor environment of the school.

The new school will join Humphreys West and Humphreys Central as the third Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) elementary school on base. Humphreys also has a middle school and a high school.

Camp Humphreys is the largest overseas U.S. military base.

Building a third primary school on the base indicates coming growth at the Army post.

“With Humphreys West, and Humphreys Central already serving our military connected students and their families, this third elementary school is rightfully named Humphreys East Elementary School and will bring our total capacity of elementary spaces at Camp Humphreys to nearly 2,400 students,” said Jacob Sherwood, DoDEA Pacific West Superintendent.

The two existing elementary schools “aren’t quite to capacity” yet, but DoDEA expects student enrollment to increase.

“In the next couple of years, we’re going to see those schools maxed out, and this will be the perfect time for this school to come on board,” Sherwood said.

The architects are KZF Design and VMDO Architects.