The 150 children of Ferndale Elementary streamed out of their battered school yesterday into the brilliant sunshine, not to return until the school's doors reopen in the fall.

At most schools and for most children, that routine is as certain as summer is short. But in Ferndale, a small working-class community holding fast to its identity, the fact that children will be returning at all is big news and a big relief.

A year ago, the 77-year-old school was on the brink of closure. The walls were moldy and cracked, and rooms were filled with buckets and trashcans to catch what the old, leaky roof could not.

The facilities were so poor and the cost of fixing them so high that Ferndale, which has seven classrooms, seemed to be beyond saving. A complete fix was estimated to cost $9.3 million - too much money for too few children, said a majority of the school board. The superintendent recommended closure.

But parents and alumni of the school, the smallest in Anne Arundel County, quickly rallied. They formed the Save the Ferndale Elementary School Committee. They sent out thousands of letters to gather support. They pleaded their case at school board and County Council meetings.

Last month, they won.

The council agreed to spend $450,000 on Ferndale in the next school year to replace the leaky roof and shore up the crumbling foundation.

The school's principal expects more money in subsequent years, and parents say they'll keep fighting.

"The school's in terrible shape," said County Councilwoman Pamela G. Beidle, whose district includes Ferndale and who made sure the school got its money. "But it's a school worth saving."

The school is central to a community squeezed between the burgeoning Baltimore-Washington International Airport and the new light rail tracks, a community that has lost its police station and locally owned stores.

The school gives Ferndale residents a sense of place, they say. It was a cornerstone of the community in its early days, when farms and fern trees covered the land.

The stucco schoolhouse doubled as the first home of Ferndale United Methodist Church in the 1920s.

Parents at Ferndale

Many of the parents, such as PTA President Ken Doane, went to the school years ago and stuck around so their children could have the same experience.

"The people are friendly, and the classes are small," Doane said yesterday while making pizza with other parents for a party marking the last day of school in the county. "It's a good school. Working together, I don't think the students will ever be shorted."

He knows that two nearby elementary schools - ones where the roofs aren't leaky and the walls aren't moldy - have space for 350 additional pupils.

However, he doesn't live in Ferndale to send his children to school somewhere else, he said.

Linda Riley, a parent helping Doane make pizza, added: "It's a big family. We like it that way."

A down payment

The $450,000 is a down payment on what the school really needs, say its supporters.

But it represents a commitment to keep it open and will, they hope, end the threats of closure that have loomed for years.

"Our school's never gotten money before," said Kim Doane, 9, who finished fourth grade yesterday and is Ken Doane's daughter. "We don't want to go to a school where our parents have to drive us."

Only eight of the school's 150 children ride the bus. The rest live close enough to walk.

The school means so much to many of the children that they testified before the school board and carried signs at meetings.

1,093 signatures

Ferndale residents gathered 1,093 signatures for a petition to save the school, and presented the school board with 78 letters, including some from young children.

After heavy rains in April, water streamed into the school's library, music room, special education classroom and teachers lounge.

Tiles fell from the ceiling. Parts of the walls are covered with white, flaky clumps.

"Basically, our special-education teacher has been teaching out of the hallway and media center - anyplace she can find space," said Principal Mary Grand, entering the special-education room yesterday. "This is too awful."

Water like 'a stream'

In the music room in April, water was pouring out of a telephone jack used for an Internet connection.

"The water was coming out in a stream, like a drinking fountain for a mouse," Grande said.

She's thrilled that the school's getting some help, but she won't be around to see it. Grande learned last week that she will be transferred to West Meade Elementary School after eight years at Ferndale.

"I'm going to miss the kids," she said.

Some of the children gave her handmade goodbye cards yesterday.

"There aren't many schools where you can be this free and easy with the kids," Grande said. "It's a delight."