Families of Pinewood Elementary say farewell to a beloved school building

Jordan Shearer, Post-Bulletin, Rochester, Minn.
Updated ·3 min read

May 23—ROCHESTER — On Wednesday evening, five fifth grade friends gathered in front of Pinewood Elementary for a group photo. One of their moms held up her camera, and they all modeled their funniest faces while holding bunny ears above each other's heads.

Before long, they'll all be heading off to middle school. But for the moment, they are among the last cohort of students who will graduate from the elementary school that has been loved by many over generations.

Although the school will live on, it will do so by moving into the nearby Longfellow Elementary at the start of the 2024-25 year, creating two schools in one building. The current building of Pinewood Elementary is scheduled to become an early learning center.

And so, an era is coming to an end for those who have loved the small neighborhood school in southeast Rochester.

"I'm glad everything kind of worked out the way it did," said Kristina Hammell, the parent of a fourth-grade student. "Everyone is staying together, which is what they all hoped for."

But even though the school community will stay intact while moving to another physical space, the move still comes with a tinge of sadness for those who loved that small school building. And so, generations of families connected to Pinewood Elementary held a farewell party for the school on Wednesday.

Throughout the evening, visitors strolled through the hallways of the school. Some of them pointed out the classrooms they used to have classes in many years prior. Others flipped through photo albums of the school's history.

Among those walking through the building was Rodney Goertz, who had attended the school himself as a child, and was later followed by his own children attending the school.

"When our kids were little, we actually sent them to daycare at my mom's house so that they could come to school here," he said. "Our whole goal was to find a house in the southeast in this neighborhood because we loved this school."

The night was also the end of an era for a couple of teachers who made the school come alive. During Wednesday's celebration, fourth-grade teacher Heidi Dube recognized retiring teacher Karen Pathoulas.

Dube also recognized Jerry Hrabe. Long since retired from teaching, Dube explained that Hrabe has been a volunteer at Pinewood for the past 16 years.

Things will be different for families of Pinewood Elementary once the school moves to Longfellow. Even though the two schools will operate independently of each other, it will be a much larger environment than what Pinewood families have at their current location.

As one of the city's smallest elementary schools, Pinewood has always had a tight-knit community. And time and time again, that has been a crowning feature for parents looking for the right fit for their children.

Derek Roadway was attending Wednesday's festivities with both his own children, as well as his mother Roxy Roadway. Now someone with a son at the school, and a daughter who would have entered kindergarten in the building next year, Roadway was once a student of Pinewood himself.

He knew it was the kind of school he wanted his children to attend once he started making a family of his own.

"We bought a house in the neighborhood with the intent that both of our kids would go here," Roadway said. "We're sad, but we're also happy that everyone is going to Longfellow: all the teachers, all the students. No one's getting split up."