NORTH YARMOUTH — Students, staff, and other members of the School Administrative District 51 community gathered at North Yarmouth Memorial School June 12 to celebrate the 65-year legacy of a longtime school about to close, and the expansion of another about to open.

As stated in a new NYMS “Abecedarius” – a photo-rich, A-Z history of both schools – North Yarmouth has had public schools since the late 1700s.

This will be the first time that it has none.

Dixie Hayes, a former teacher at the school, compiled the book with Katie Murphy and Kathy Whittier, who are fellow parents, volunteers, and members of the North Yarmouth Historical Society. Copies went out Monday, the last day of school, to all the students and staff, and society members, and others will be for sale at the Town Office for $5.

“So many people contributed to this,” Murphy said. “Dixie interviewed so many people to get information that she didn’t have, and she really worked hard at tracking down a lot of stuff.”

Murphy was among many who called the school closure bittersweet.

“There’s an atmosphere at this school … I don’t think you could match it anywhere else,” she said. “It’s small, it’s intimate, it’s casual, it’s caring. … The kids, at recess outside they build forts in the little woody perimeter of the playground. Where is that going to happen in the larger school down in Cumberland? I don’t know.”

Still, Tiger DiMillo and Quincy Segal are looking forward to the move. With help from Kelsey Kovik, a local filmmaker, the fourth graders from Cumberland produced a short documentary, “The End of NYMS,” that played at the ceremony.

“We just wanted to do it,” Quincy said. “Because the school’s closing this year, and we wanted to make something special for it.”

He added that he’s a little sad that the school is closing, “because it’s really small, but I can’t wait to get to the new school. … It’s a lot bigger.”

“Yeah, it seems pretty good,” Tiger chimed in.

His mother, Tonya DiMillo, said NYMS is “such a sweet school” due to its size and strong community feel, but added that “I’m excited for them to have the opportunities that the new school presents, with its size, the lighting … and it’s closer to all of the other schools.”

Having been at the Mabel I. Wilson elementary school in Cumberland last year, then among the last fourth-graders at NYMS, and now the first fifth-graders at Greely Middle School, the youths will have attended three schools in as many years.

Voters approved incorporation of a North Yarmouth School District in July 1949, and the original school opened its doors seven months later, according to information from the North Yarmouth Historical Society. The building joined Cumberland’s schools when the two towns formed SAD 51 in 1965.

The original school burned down in October 1975, and a cause was never determined. The district voted two months later to build a new school, and the building was fully occupied by 1977.

In light of rising costs and dwindling enrollments, the SAD 51 Board of Directors voted in December 2012 to close the school, and move its fourth- and fifth-graders to an expanded Greely Middle School in Cumberland. Voters in the two towns echoed that decision at a referendum the next year, and the School Board turned the structure over to North Yarmouth.

Residents must now decide what to do with the building, and options discussed include selling it for redevelopment, or having it serve as a new town office, with its gym replacement for Wescustogo Hall, which was destroyed by fire in August 2012. The property’s septic system has also been proposed to serve higher-density development in the town’s village district.

While the future remains uncertain, the past was a cherished element at last week’s celebration.

The event included a community barbecue, interactive time-line displayed by the historical society, music from the NYMS chorus, and a legislative sentiment presented by state Rep. Anne Graham, D-North Yarmouth.

Graham, who referred to the closure as more a retirement, expressed hope that the school would continue to be a part of the community.

Carol MacArthur, NYMS principal since 2011, said funds are being raised to replicate murals around the school, painted by former teacher Sue Clukey, for display at GMS.

“This really is a wonderful community to be part of,” she said, “and I feel absolutely confident that everything that is the beauty of NYMS … will be at Greely Middle School next year. So I look forward to seeing you all there.”

Alex Lear can be reached at 781-3661 ext. 113 or alear@theforecaster.net. Follow him on Twitter: @learics.

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Last week’s celebration of soon-to-be-closed North Yarmouth Memorial School drew several former teachers. From left are Dixie Hayes, Jeanne Chadbourne, Rosemary Goranites, Judy Maddox, Leeann Kennie, Kathi Hardy and Jane Mullany.

North Yarmouth Memorial School fourth-graders Tiger DiMillo and Quincy Segal promote a documentary they made about the school’s upcoming closure.

The North Yarmouth Memorial School chorus and members of the school’s fourth grade, directed by Ann Dillon, sing a variety of tunes during a June 12 ceremony celebrating the school’s 65-year legacy.