photo credit: Regina Mellinger
Students painted tiles for a commemorative mural honoring the legacy of Prestwood Elementary School.

Schools around Sonoma County and the state are closing due to financial issues and declining enrollment. KRCB shares the story of a school in the Sonoma Valley and the way the community is celebrating a long legacy before they sing their school song for the last time.

Prestwood Elementary School closes in May after more than 75 years of educating generations of children. One of its former students is Regina Mellinger, who currently teaches a second/third grade combination class there.

“I got a long family history. So, um my mom just retired. She taught at Prestwood for 38 years. And after her retirement, I moved into her classroom, and it was the classroom that she had been teaching in for 30 years," said Mellinger. "So, um this closure – I don't think I could even put into words of, um, kind of the devastation of this. Um Sorry.”

This is an emotional ending for not just Mellinger, but her students, fellow teachers, and staff. And the impact of this school ripples out further into the Sonoma Valley community. Karen O’Hara, who teaches third grade at Prestwood School, explains a unique effort to honor its legacy.

“Thankfully the community center reached out and said let's, let's make a mark here in Sonoma that honors Prestwood School and for all those who are part of it, especially the children that are in it right now," said O'Hara.

The Sonoma Community Center proposed a memorial wall composed of ceramic tiles that would be installed at the Center, the original home of the elementary school.

“They had community members, artists from the community center come and in our art room every student, teacher, staff member, past teachers and past staff members were able to come and make a tile," said O'Hara.

The opening of Prestwood in 1951 allowed for the school’s previous site, the brick building located on East Napa Street, to become the Sonoma Community Center, which opened in 1952. Vanessa Glamore is the Center’s executive director.

“It's such a great group of kids and what's been really interesting about this process is that they know they're not coming back to their school next year," said Glamore. "Some of them are graduating. Some of them have only been there for a year.”

Glamore says that this art project comes with unexpected side effects.

“It's been helping - watching their process about thinking about their school and where they're going next. So that's been a benefit that we didn't think about but that watching the kids, kind of process and, and get a deeper understanding of, of the transition that's coming for them," said Glamore.

So what kind of designs have the students been making on their tiles? Mellinger says many are making paw prints in honor of their school mascot, the Prestwood Panther, and some are quite touching.

“Karen and I actually have a set of twins in our class. She has one sister and I have the other sister and they actually moved from Florida and her tile said ‘Welcoming’ and she that was a huge thing," said Mellinger. "She talked about how Prestwood had just been so welcoming, especially being a new student coming, you know, not from kindergarten that that was a huge thing that stood out for her is just how warm and welcoming our school is – was.”

I ask O’Hara how the students are processing the closure.

“That one's a hard one. I mean, I think kids are very resilient, but deep down you know there's a crush," said O'Hara. "And some kids that are really young still don't understand that their school is closing even though we've known for a few months. Um, my students in third grade they were all heartbroken, but, you know, we try to keep it as, as positive as possible and trying to keep our head up.”

Both teachers have the added pressure of not being certain of their own jobs.

“And both, you know, Karen and I are asked regularly what we're doing and where we're going to be and that's hard when you have young kids to say that you don't know," said Mellinger. "And you know, they look, they look to you as a support of almost like well, ‘If you're going to be here, it's going to be okay.’ And so that's, that's hard to kind of have just an answer of ‘We don't know.’”

The creative act of making their own tiles is helping each teacher process their own emotions around the closure. O’Hara made images of redwood trees that she loved to play under as a student at Prestwood, and Mellinger says her design is in honor of the legacy she shares with her mother who taught children in the same classroom.

“So um Michelle I sent you the tile I did and my tile was room 32 because that's the classroom," said Mellinger.

"You were practically born in that one too. Raised, you were raised in it and now you're teaching in it," said O'Hara.

"Yeah," said Mellinger.

The community is invited to a “Farewell to Prestwood” event on Friday, May 1st from 5pm to 8pm with music, food trucks, and entertainment at the Prestwood blacktop and field. There will be a mural presentation later in May at the Sonoma Community Center for students and staff.