When the balloons went up and away Friday afternoon on the last day of Ledgemont Schools' existence, children's cheers and clapping were punctuated with a…
When the balloons went up and away Friday afternoon on the last day of Ledgemont Schools’ existence, children’s cheers and clapping were punctuated with a few wistful tears shed by parents and grandparents.
Sadness, uncertainty, regret, resignation and hopefulness were all present and accounted for at Burrows Elementary School. Many of the parents and some of the grandparents present for the picnic had graduated from Ledgemont High School. Until the last few years, they expected the next generation would, as well.
Michelle Jokinen and her mother, Valerie Nellis, two adults taking pictures of the morning’s events, are Ledgemont grads. They corralled their son and grandson, Seth, 11, in the cafeteria for a picture before he raced outside with the rest of his class.
A sixth grader, Seth is one of dozens of students from Montville and Thompson townships who will start next school year at Berkshire High School in Burton.
“He’s upset about it. He’d have been the third generation of our family to graduate from Ledgemont,” said his mother. “It’s a hard day.”
However, both Jokinen and Nellis were positive about the possibilities.
“It’s going to be good, educationally, for them,” Jokinen said. “They’re going to have more opportunities at Berkshire.”
It will be a long bus ride for students in grades seven through 12, she said, but the Berkshire administration, staff and students have been very accepting of the Redskins. Sixth graders had the chance to visit Berkshire twice, Jokinen said, so they know the school now.
Seth plays baseball, basketball and football, so the shift to Berkshire, where his family will not have to pay for him to participate in sports, is a bit of a plus, she said.
Cindy Bartholomew, a member of the Ledgemont parent teacher group, said sixth graders were also able to attend the Berkshire’s annual spring outing at Camp Whitewood and meet the Berk-shire students.
“They were so welcoming, helping socialize the kids and make it as easy on them as possible,” said Bartholomew, who has two children in kindergarten and third grade. “We couldn’t have found a better school to merge with.”
But Angela Smith, Ledgemont High School Class of ’99, wasn’t as sure.
“I was pretty sad to hear the school was not staying open,” she said, preparing to take pictures of her sons, Taylor and Tyler, who are in grades two and kindergarten, respectively. “Mom was the mascot for the football team and Dad was a bus driver here.”
Other family members graduated from Ledgemont, she said, adding the education they received was phenomenal.
Barb Young, who’s eldest child, Justin, graduated from Ledgemont last year and attended Hiram College this year, said there are still a lot of questions lingering in her mind. She and her husband, Jack, have four children. Jarett, a junior who will be a senior next year, and Jacob, an eighth grader.
“It’s a very emotional day,” said Barb Young, sitting with her daughter, Julia, as her first-grade class ate their lunch in the shade of a tree. “I’m sure there’s good things to come from it for the kids.”
The last year was rough while Ledgemont searched for a district with which to merge, Young said. Once that was settled, she felt a little better, but the future is still a little blurry.
“We don’t have a feeling of what’s going to happen next year,” she said.
Her family got to know the teachers and administrators well. Knowing some won’t stay in the system is hard.
“The teachers have always been great,” she said. “It’s been the best experience.”
The Youngs moved to the Ledge-mont school district from Painesville to raise their family in a close neighborhood. Burton, a 15-minute drive to the south, is not quite a foreign land but there will be a lot to learn.
“We don’t know the Berkshire people, but we will,” she said.
Patrick Sirl hugged his son, Quin, 6, under the tree. His daughter, Keeghan, is going into the third grade, so the family has more time to adjust than those who have high schoolers.
“As long as the kids are first and foremost, it’s hard to argue with that. It sounds good,” he said. “We’ll have to trust the leadership and see what happens.”
