Moments after the 11:30 dismissal Monday morning, first-grader Nathan White burst from the doors of Langston Hughes Elementary School exclaiming, "School's out for summer."
And — pending a July 20 hearing before a state administrative judge — the Park Heights school may also be out forever.
Langston Hughes is one of five schools the Baltimore school board decided to close this year, though advocates have been fighting through marches, rallies and lock-ins to keep its bright blue doors open.
"I feel sad because I want it to stay open," Nathan said. "They've got nice teachers here who are nice to the kids."
While it was the last day of school Monday in the city, Baltimore County, Anne Arundel Harford and Howard schools close later this week. Carroll County's last day was Friday.
The closures in Baltimore, voted on in December, are part of the city's plan to shut down under-enrolled schools operating in rundown buildings. As of May, Langston Hughes housed 176 students and used 58 percent of the building.
The schools that Langston Hughes students could be moved to, Arlington Elementary/Middle School or Pimlico Elementary/Middle School, are scheduled to be renovated in alignment with the city's $980 million strategy to modernize schools' infrastructure.
But they're also farther away, parents said while picking up their children for what could be the last time from Langston Hughesl.
George Mitchell, the president of the Langston Hughes Community Action Association, which filed the appeal with the Maryland State Department of Education that led to the hearing, said the neighborhoods that students would walk through are "drug-infested."
Nathan lives just three doors from his current school, and "can leave the house at 7:25 a.m. to get to breakfast at school by 7:30 a.m," said his father, Nathaniel White, who attended Langston Hughes along with his four brothers and sisters.
"If I call up my siblings, they can still recite the school song," the 38-year-old said. "This school has always been here for us. It's not going to seem right for us with it gone. [Nathan] is my second kid to go here, and I was hoping my next would, too."
Sending Nathan to another school would also disrupt his education, his father said.
"You get them situated to where they can't wait to come to school and see their teachers every day," he said. "This is like teaching him how to be potty-trained and then sticking him back in diapers. … I'm hoping they don't close it. We've been marching, we've been rallying, we've been trying our best."
Mitchell said he believes the school has a 75 percent chance of winning.
"I'm a strong believer in God, and I don't think this will be the last day," he said. "People are a little down, kids and parents are a little down, but we just have to pray everything works out."
Fourth-grade teacher Jeremy Downey said he's hopeful, but realistic, about the future of Langston Hughes. He's found a new job teaching at Fort Worthington Elementary.
So as he walked his students out on Monday, he offered them advice for fifth grade with the knowledge he wouldn't be seeing them around the halls next year. He advised one young girl to "watch [her] mouth." To another student, he recommended, "Keep up the study habits."
Each goodbye ended with a handshake or a hug, with one boy turning back to say, "I'll see you in the long run."
"These were the first students I ever had," Downey, 24, said. "It's going to be hard not seeing them in the halls next year."
End of school year
Besides Carroll County, which ended the school year Friday, the other school districts in the Baltimore area close for the year later this week.
Anne Arundel: Thursday (eight schools in the county close Wednesday)
Baltimore County: Thursday for elementary and middle schools; Friday for high schools
Harford: Friday
Howard: Friday: