Saturday, May 29, 2004
By DENISE DICK
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WEST FARMINGTON -- When Sarah Hodgkiss came to Farmington Elementary as a new teacher 30 years ago, she believed she'd also retire from there.
Standing in her first-grade classroom Friday, the day the school bell rang for the last time, Hodgkiss tears up thinking of how her retirement will be from another building.
"I was doing so good this week until Wednesday when I started packing up," she said. The school is part of the financially strapped Bristol Local School District, which is in state-declared fiscal emergency. The school is being closed as a cost-cutting measure.
When Hodgkiss started teaching, the building housed kindergarten through 12th grade in the Farmington School District. In 1987, that district became part of the Bristol district, and the building became an elementary school. It housed kindergarten through third-grade this year.
Lori Koetf, whose first-grade son, Logan, 7, is in Hodgkiss' class, also is president of the school's parent- teacher organization. The family lives in Champion but chose to send Logan to Bristol schools because of the small-school atmosphere and the teachers.
"It's sad," she said. "I have such a good rapport with the teachers and everyone here."
What pupils said
First-grader Matthew Roseblossom, 8, wore a T-shirt created by his mom, Kim, summarizing the thoughts of many pupils and staff on the school's first day.
"West Farmington School in our heart forever," it read in green and gold glittered letters.
Second-grader Jason Reynolds, 8, says he's looking forward to going to a new school.
But he's also sad "because this school is going to be shut down."
It's the playground that Brooke Anderson, 7, also a second-grader, will miss most, and second-grader Cameron Fisher, 8, said he's been to the newer school a few times.
"But I don't know how it's going to be next year in that school," Cameron said, adding that he's sad that Farmington is closing.
Suzanne Holderbaum, a second-grade teacher, started in the Farmington district in 1972.
"I think it will hit me when I go by the building and it's deserted," she said.
Holderbaum will drive by her old school on her way to the newer building next year.
Holderbaum, Hodgkiss and many other teachers and staff will move to the Bristolville campus, but some others with less seniority will lose their jobs because of the budget cuts.
Music teacher Nancy Gettig, who has worked at the school for five years, led the children in song, "Together Tomorrow Again" as they ate their last lunch in the Farmington building. The song talks about how friends stay together.
"They requested it," the music teacher said.
Other comments
Principal James Hungerford will be principal of kindergarten through sixth-grade at the Bristol building next year. He's spent 26 years in the Farmington and Bristol districts.
"The things I'll really miss are the library and the computer lab," he said. "The young children over here really love the library. They love to read."
The librarian will divide her time next year between the library and teaching English and media classes. Hungerford said the school is trying to recruit parent volunteers to staff the library for additional hours.
The closing of the West Farmington schools means a loss of identity for some, the principal said.
"The only hope we have is if we can get this [6.9-mill] levy passed and we can somehow have the building reopened," he added. The levy will be on the special-election ballot Aug. 3.