If you have been around the towns of Acton and Boxborough in the past year you have probably heard the phrase “AB Forward” being tossed around. Sometimes it has been said with optimism, other times with disdain. Most often it has been used in various posts and comments online. It seems to have been the number one thing on everyone’s mind.
Here at Conant School it became apparent early on that our building was most likely going to be closed. The age of the 1970 building and the various expensive renovations in store made it an obvious choice to go when all of the restructuring needed to happen. In the end it was not just Conant, but Merriam, McCarthy-Towne, Douglas and Gates that would need to close in order to create a new vision for the future of Acton-Boxborough.
Although people have various opinions about this decision and the process leading up to it, in the end it is happening and it’s happening soon. In the wake of this, each school has been left to grapple with the impossible question: how do you concurrently celebrate and say goodbye to established communities and, in Conant’s case, a building and campus?
The short answer is that you simply can’t possibly do it justice. The longer answer is somewhere along the lines of you just do the best you can with what you have.
For Conant, a committee was formed that worked to find a way to honor the legacy of a 50+ year-old school, while simultaneously keeping our current students at the forefront of our minds and doing what is best for them. Research shows that in order to help students through a large transition, it is essential to keep things as familiar as possible as it happens. Our committee quickly realized that the day-to-day operations of Conant needed to remain mostly the same in order to create a safe and predictable environment for our students.
And yet, the greater Conant community was seeking some way to reconnect with the place that they had spent up to seven years of their young lives. Past teachers and families were reaching out and asking, “What are we going to do to say goodbye?” From that question it became clear that there needed to be a day to come together as a community and to reminisce about the past and send the spirit of Conant into the future.
On Wednesday, June 3 from 4 to 6 p.m., members of the community are invited to walk through Conant’s front doors one final time and to have the opportunity to say goodbye to the school we all know and love. Hopefully this will provide those who need it with the closure they are seeking and to once again fill the halls with the sounds of laughter and the warm smiles so many of us have shared at Conant.
Please visit tinyurl.com/celebrateconant for more information and to RSVP. We are looking forward to coming together one final time and to carry our Polar pride with us wherever we go next.
Taylor Luke is a 3rd grade teacher at Conant School and has taught there for six years. Next year she is looking forward to teaching at the Boardwalk Lower School. She lives in Maynard with her partner Jaycie and their two pets.
