Friday was the last in a year of lasts for Woodway and Evergreen elementary schools.
The last time students walked single file through the hallways, trying to be quiet, the last time teachers led class discussions, the last time staff gathered outside to wave goodbye to buses of kids headed off to summer break.
Both schools closed for good Friday. A few months ago, the Edmonds School Board voted to shut the schools to save $1.4 million a year and to cope with declining enrollment.
“I’m kind of sad Woodway’s closing,” said fourth-grader Mohammad Khan, as he sat in the cafeteria Friday. “I’ve been here since kindergarten. It’s sad. I thought this school would last 100 years and now it’s closing. This is where my childhood began. When I was 4 years old I came here. My goal was to be here my whole time from kindergarten to sixth grade.”
Instead, next year he’ll head to Sherwood Elementary in Edmonds with some of his classmates and teachers. Others will go to Westgate Elementary in Edmonds.
Students at Evergreen Elementary are splitting between Mountlake Terrace Elementary and Terrace Park School.
Evergreen opened in 1969 and serves 284 students in a diverse Mountlake Terrace neighborhood. It’s the district’s second smallest school, behind Woodway, which had 210 students in Edmonds.
On Friday, children and teachers cried as they parted and buses pulled away for good.
“I’ve been here for 20 years — and only here,” said Evergreen teacher Penny Seible, who will move to Mountlake Terrace Elementary in the fall. “I’ve taught every grade — first through sixth. It’s been amazing, and it’s very sad for me. Even though our school’s old, it’s really nice. It’s a beautiful school.”
Principal Susan Ardissono said teachers tried to make the most of a tough year, recognizing the lasts without dwelling on them.
“We didn’t want any child to lose a year,” she said, walking by the school’s flower garden, which students planted and tended. “That really was our mantra; trying to stick together and be positive — all the while knowing we’re going in different directions. It’s difficult.”
On Friday, students and staff at Woodway looked back on the year with a slide show. Students flying kites, reading books, donning construction-paper top hats — all the treasured events that will be absent from Woodway next year.
PTA treasurer Rhoni Gendron cried during the slide show and afterward, as she hugged goodbye the students she’s known since her oldest child started at Woodway seven years ago.
“It’s sad because they are closing down a community,” she said. “It’s more than just a building. It’s more than just the teachers. It’s more than just the students. There’s the loss of a community.”
The closure is separating teachers who have worked together for years and buddies who swap secrets and play together at recess.
“It’s really sad,” Woodway second-grader Ryan Eames said. “Me and Thomas are best friends. We’re supposed to go to different schools. He’s going to Sherwood and I’m going to Westgate. I’m sad it’s closing down because it’s a really nice school.”
While most teachers will follow students to new schools, the Edmonds School District expects to save money on administrators, custodians, heating and other school-specific costs.
District leaders are talking with city of Edmonds officials about leasing Woodway to tenants in the fall. The district is waiting for the City of Mountlake Terrace to make decisions about how Evergreen could be used before moving forward with a lease, spokeswoman DJ Jakala said.
District leaders haven’t yet decided what to do with the empty schools in the long run.
To help ease student anxiety about the transition, Woodway and Evergreen students toured their new schools recently.
Still, the idea of leaving the only school they’ve ever known is tough for many students.
Evergreen fifth-grader Parminder Kaur delivered bouquets of flowers to her teachers Friday, wishing she’d be able to see them again in the fall as usual.
The 10-year-old is going to Terrace Park School next year.
“The school’s not like Evergreen because it’s more big,” she said forlornly. “It’s sad because I’ve been here since kindergarten.”
She ran off to deliver another bouquet — her last, one of many on Friday.
Kaitlin Manry: 425-339-3292, kmanry@heraldnet.com.
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