‘It’s sad’: Inside the last day of school ever for these closing Salt Lake City elementaries

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Lais Martinez has had two sons attend Fairpark’s fated Mary W. Jackson Elementary School. For her kids, it was a place where they could be themselves and a school where the community was representative and inclusive of who they are.

“Our youngest is graduating this year, so he spent all his years here,” said Martinez, whose oldest is now a high school junior at the Salt Lake Center for Science Education. “The fact that teachers call you ‘mijo’, that means something for us — where it’s an extension of your home, where they’re invested in you.”

‘Mijo’ is a Spanish portmanteau of “mi hijo,” or “my son.” It’s a common way for parents, family members and other adults to endearingly refer to boys in their life.

Mary W. Jackson is one of two Salt Lake City School District elementaries that are closing for good this week — both it and Riley on the west side, and Bennion and Hawthorne on the east. Parents at the two west-side campuses echoed Martinez’s love for the community culture that they say each school fostered.

The Salt Lake City school board’s January decision to close the schools came after the district first studied all 27 of its elementaries for potential closure. That study followed a 2022 report from state auditors, in which they criticized the district for keeping schools open with declining enrollment, costing taxpayers millions of dollars.

On Wednesday, Mary W. Jackson leaders hosted an end-of-school celebration. It featured student performances, kids launching bottle rockets high into the air and much laughter. But it was bittersweet for parents, teachers and students as all wrapped up their time at the school, never to return after Thursday.

The Fairpark school that sits in the shadow of Interstate 15 won’t just be remembered as a place of learning. Martinez pointed to the fact that relatives who don’t speak English, like her sons’ grandma, still felt comfortable interacting with the significant bilingual staff on campus as evidence of the school’s culture.

Maria Salas’ husband went to Mary W. Jackson as a child, and both of them grew up in Rose Park. They couldn’t afford a house in Salt Lake City, though, so they’re raising their family in West Valley City.

But that family history meant that they still wanted to send their kindergarten daughter to Mary W. Jackson, then onto Northwest Middle School and West High School. Salas and her husband both went to those schools, too.

On Wednesday, she picked up her daughter and two nephews from the campus.

“We’re bilingual, but we really didn’t teach her much as she was growing up,” Salas said. “So this school and the teachers here have taught her so much. It’s really amazing, because she now knows so much more. The Dual Language Immersion program was awesome.”

‘I’ve been very happy with this school’

Over at Riley, the last day of school on Thursday was quieter, but still full of hugs between students and their teachers, who may not all be moving on to the same schools.

One family, celebrating their fifth grade graduate, brought a bubble machine for the last day.

Parents at Riley said they were sad the school was closing down. Mariana Ávila, the mother of a second-grade girl who has been attending since she enrolled in the Head Start program there, said she will specifically miss how easy it was to get to school, especially with the walking school bus routes school staff set up. Ávila and other parents picking up their kids also lauded the Riley’s teachers and staff.

“I’ve been very happy with this school,” said Ávila. “[The teachers] are amazing. They make it a point to know each student’s names, so I feel education-wise, and everything else, she’s been thriving here.”

Next school year, Ávila’s daughter will attend Parkview Elementary — still walkable from their house, but she’s not feeling comfortable with the change.

Adrian Valderas’ third-grade daughter will also move to Parkview next year. But he’s worried about what the switch might mean for her socially.

“I think it’s going to be a little bit hard for my daughter to make new friends,” Valderas said, “because she knows everything at this school.”

Riley students have largely been reassigned to Edison, Franklin and Mountain View elementary schools in addition to Parkview, according to the Salt Lake City School District.

Mary W. Jackson kids will largely be split between Backman, Rose Park and Washington elementaries. Teachers and staff members at the closing schools have been promised similar roles at other district campuses.

As for the future of the school buildings themselves, the district has yet to announce any long term plans. A spokesperson said some school district departments will use portions of the buildings as short-term office space as the district’s main office is rebuilt.

“We’re just really going to miss this school,” said Salas, whose kindergarten daughter will be going to Granite School District’s Stansbury Elementary in West Valley City next year. “We hope that they re-do it well. I hope it doesn’t become apartments ... everything around here is becoming apartments. I’m hoping we see something like a rec center, something for the community.”