Classes at Bahrain Elementary School and Bahrain Middle High School resumed Aug. 17, 2025, after hundreds of families left the base in early June due in the midst of conflict between Iran and Israel. (Shannon Renfroe/Stars and Stripes)
MANAMA, Bahrain — Military families welcomed a return to normalcy Sunday after a summer of high tensions, air raid sirens and last-minute departures at the Navy’s Middle East hub.
The kickoff of the new academic year at Bahrain Elementary School and Bahrain Middle High School was especially welcome this year, coming after an early June peak in conflict between Israel and Iran.
At that time, fearing an attack on U.S. bases, the Defense Department authorized a voluntary departure for nonessential family members throughout the region. Iran did not fire on Bahrain but launched 14 missiles at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.
“I’m excited to see the Bahrain School get back to doing what it does best: educating and empowering the next generation while building multinational friendships that will last a lifetime,” Capt. Zachariah Aperauch, the base’s commanding officer, said in a statement.
It’s unclear how many families have returned to Bahrain. But enrollment levels at the schools are slightly higher compared with last year’s, said Jessica Tackaberry, a Department of Defense Education Activity spokeswoman in Europe.
Deidre Harris, a Defense Department employee with two school-age sons, decided to return after the conflict with Iran abruptly cut their summer short.
Harris, whose 27 years in the Marine Corps included combat deployments, said she took the threat seriously and was candid with her kids about why they had to leave. The most important thing, she said, was getting her family to a safe place.
“I was very open with my children,” she said. “My kids are at the age that we can’t be make-believe and fairy tale — this is a real-life situation.”
Now that the immediate threat has passed, her seventh grader and fourth grader are excited to be back, she said. The family returned to Bahrain about a week before classes resumed and got to attend the open house last week.
“(The kids’) reaction was: ‘Is it safe? Is everybody OK? Is our school OK?’ ” she said. “Once they knew that, then yes, OK, we were ready.”
David Cuyler, a seventh grader who was also attending the open house, said he’s looking forward to physical education. He also gave some advice for surviving the first day.
“Don’t get on the bad sides of your teachers — especially the nice ones — because if you get on the bad sides of the nice ones, they’re not gonna be nice anymore,” he said.
Some family members decided to remain stateside following the summer departure. Among them is Sabrina Cicchi, the wife of a Marine colonel, who left Bahrain with her three children under voluntary departure status earlier this summer.
She had considered sending her two high schoolers back to Bahrain for their studies.
However, seats on the government’s Patriot Express planes were limited, and they couldn’t use a pet shipping service due to extreme temperatures. The potential for school disruptions also remains, she said.
“We missed, like, seven to 10 days of school (in Bahrain) due to credible threats last year,” Cicchi said. “I don’t anticipate that to be different this year.”
She and her husband chose a place in Virginia instead for their children. Her freshman daughter joined the volleyball team, and her second-eldest son gets to experience all the rites of passage that come with senior year, she said.
But because their departure was voluntary, they can’t ship their household goods back to the U.S., Cicchi said. The family rented a home and has been cobbling together necessities from friends and family.
“We may not have any furniture,” Cicchi said. “But I don’t have to worry about whether or not I’m jumping on a flight in seven days or 35 days or 45 days.”
