READING — On Friday, USD 251 North Lyon County schools will celebrate the end of the school year.
For Reading students and staff, they will be marking the end of an education era.
It is the final day of classes for the school, which had its first building erected in 1875. Principal Peggy Fort has been associated with the school for almost 20 years, and she says several highlights stand out to her during her tenure.
The school’s end-of-year cookout will begin at 11 am Friday at Reading Park. Fort admitted the final bell shortly after 3:30 pm will be hard for everybody, but there is also comfort in the routine — and the focus among staff has been keeping the routine as close to normal as possible.
Fort says staff rolled the existing building into place with logs to connect it to the addition when that was built in 1915. Reading Fieldhouse, the school gym, was built in the 1950s along with new classrooms. Reading High was closed in 1985 and a new wing was built in 1995 at the same the first addition was razed. Reading is most recently an elementary, but it also served as a K-8 and a K-12 school.
The district school board voted earlier this year to close Reading as a cost-cutting move. Reading town leaders and USD 251 board members are starting the process of determining how the building and property will be used once the school year ends in July.
