It was an emotional evening for many who attended or taught at Sacred Heart Catholic School in Sarnia.
An open house and closing ceremony was held on Thursday where previous students, parents and faculty could tour the Lecaron Avenue school and take in the memorabilia.
Norman Vaillant attended the school from 1951 to 1959.
He said he met with some former classmates.
"I knew I would be one of the oldest coming here who has been at this school," he said. "It's nice, I got a few portraits of my classmates."
Valliant told Sarnia News Today he was captain of the hockey team.
"I was one of the original ones that kind of started it one year and we lost in the finals, but some of the boys are here," he said.
Attending Sacred Heart has family ties for some, like Tanya Winter, who said it feels like a tradition.
"Just being back here, this would've been my Grade 7 class. I remember watching Degrassi Jr. High. I miss the bulletin boards and the chalk on the teacher's pants that we used to laugh at," Winter said.
Her son now attends the school and will be the first graduating class out of the new Sacred Heart.
Winter said she's sad about the school closing its doors.
"I have a lot of memories and all of my family went here, so it's a big deal," she said. "We all went to Sacred Heart, it was everything. I lived down the street, played in the school yard."
She also said, while it is upsetting the school is closing, the bigger school is long overdue.
Some guests did not attend the school but their children went to Sacred Heart, like Dawn Ziolkowski, who was also on the parent council.
"This was an excellent school, everyone was so friendly. They had a really good class all the way through, and they stayed friends even now," said Ziolkowski.
Teachers are also feeling nostalgic about saying goodbye to the school.
Shannon Stickley has taught at Sacred Heart for 17 years.
She said during class on Thursday, her students said the school is like a family.
"That warmed my heart because that's one of the reasons I love it here and stayed here for so long because I love being a part of the family," Stickley said. "I've taught JK to Grade 4 here and it's so nice seeing the kids grow up."
While she did not attend Sacred Heart growing up, she attended the former Gregory A. Hogan School on Hogan Drive, which is where the new Sacred Heart will be located.
She said it feels like her worlds are colliding.
"I'm very nostalgic about that building and property as well. Even though it's going to be really sad to leave this building, I'm excited to make new memories and carry on our traditions over at the new site," she said. "We're still going to be the 49ers together in a new building, but it's nice to kind of close this chapter with everyone coming and sharing lots of great memories."
The new Sacred Heart school is scheduled to open in September.
