"We will never forget. One-hundred fifty-three years of memories will never go away because they'll be inside of you," Principal Barbara Neal told students and staff gathered at Burnett Elementary School for the last time Friday.
It was overcast as the Burnett community commingled in the school's courtyard around the symbolic bronze bell, that students have rung on the last day of school for more than a century.
The Morgan Hill Unified School District Board of Trustees voted in January to close the northwest Morgan Hill school, saving the district $400,000 a year to help close a $13 million budget gap. All students and staff will be transferred to P.A. Walsh Elementary School.
Waterworks for the day were expected, as evidenced by the cloudy skies and momentous ceremony signifying the last day of school and the closing of Burnett for the foreseeable future.
Sure enough, as poems were read, speeches given, items for a time capsule assembled - art projects, the Burnett Spirit Bear, a teachers' survival kit - and teachers and students took turns ringing the bell, tears started flowing.
They started with one girl wearing pink in a crowd of fourth graders. Then, several girls surrounding her chimed in with their own sniffles and snorts. Soon, nearly everyone in the courtyard was in tears.
"We may never set foot on this campus again," said sixth grader Melina Zuniga, as she tried to catch her breath between sobs. Zuniga said she would miss her best friend Jessica Newland, who will attend seventh grade at Martin Murphy Middle School in the fall. But Zuniga is moving to San Jose, outside Martin Murphy's school zone.
"She's been there through all of my problems," Zuniga said. "It's sad. It's the end."
The two clung to each other throughout the ceremony.
"Everybody here is a big family," Newland said, wiping her bright eyes. "It's been open so long. It's a great part of the Morgan Hill district."
Newland spent her entire elementary career at Burnett. Her fondest memories are the bell ringing each spring, science camp, the goodbye barbecue each year and her friends.
Fifth graders Edwin Garcia-Vasquez, J.D. Malasia, Oscar Zuniga and Matthew Gracia stood in a circle after the ceremony, unsuccessfully fighting back tears.
"It's a little sad. I'm going to miss everything. Playing soccer. I had a lot of friends here," Zuniga said. He paused, bent over and tried to gain composure as his friends patted him on the back and looked soulfully at one another.
Fourth grader Ayanna Taplin said she really wanted to stay at Burnett next year.
"The teachers are all nice and the yard duty (monitors) are nice. It's a sad moment. It made lots of people cry and I'm one of them," Taplin said, sniffling. Her doe eyes darted around the courtyard, taking in her friends and classmates as they hugged and said goodbye.
Stern Steve Bakowsky, popular second grade teacher, got choked up as he and Neal each accepted a replica of the Burnett bell, a gift from the Home and School Club. Bakowsky has worked at the school for 34 years.
The Burnett bell will be transferred to Walsh with the students and staff.
Bakowsky said he would keep his replica at home, and Neal will put it on her desk in the principal's office at an as-yet-unnamed district school she'll lead next year.
"All I wanted was to ring the bell one time before I go," Bakowsky said.
He got that chance. Most years, the bell ringing is done by the student body president. But this year, each teacher and some students got a crack at it.
Neal paused, holding back tears herself as she addressed the community she's led for the past five years following the final ceremonial chime.
"It's summer," she said, with finality and feigned cheerfulness.
Home and School Club member Janel Tomblin-Brown applauded Neal for her service over the years. Tomblin-Brown said she was glad the teachers and staff were going to the same school as the students.
"That's a good foundation, that they get to be solid together," Tomblin-Brown said. "They have a lot of good memories of this school."
Natalie Everett
Natalie Everett Natalie Everett is the education and city reporter for The Times. Reach her at (408) 779-4106, ext. 201, or neverett@morganhilltimes.com.
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