Alexander Hamilton Elementary School opened its doors 57 years ago. Friday, former and new students say goodbye to the school.
"It means family," said Amy Goudy, a teacher's aid at the school. "It means something I will never forget."
Students reminisced on all the memories they had made within the walls.
"One thing I remember is that we used come to the playground and we'd all exchange Littlest Pet Shops," said former student Claire Walter.
The declining student enrollment prompted the school district to have to shut down the school, and consolidate the students here with other schools. This meant saying goodbye to Hamilton Elementary.
"The district at the peak had an enrollment of over 20,000 students, and now it's under 7,000 students," said Ken-Ton Community Relations Coordinator Patrick Fanelli.
The school board, however, is making sure the transition is as smooth as possible.
"They made the whole transition easy," said Jessica Simon, mother of a student at the school. "They've done a really good job making sure they have everything covered for all the kids."
"Over the past year the focus has been on preparing the students to transition to their next school," said Fanelli. "Students received a very warm welcome at their new schools."
Mary Bayer, who was part of the first kindergarten class the school experienced, tried to hold her tears back.
"I've been a teacher for 22 years and half of my career has been at Hamilton," said Bayer. "I was hoping to finish my career in this building."
