Provo students say goodbye to Wasatch Elementary after 75 years

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KEY TAKEAWAYS

Families in Provo bid farewell to Wasatch Elementary after 75 years.
The school relocates to a new $44 million building on former BYU property.
Students and staff cherish memories while embracing new opportunities at the updated site.

PROVO — Families in Provo are saying goodbye to a longtime elementary school that's been there for 75 years.

Wasatch Elementary School is moving to its new location on a property formerly owned by Brigham Young University. Friday was the last day of classes in the building, which has stood at 1080 N. 900 East, since 1949.

"It is very surreal," said Ruth Ann Snow, Wasatch Elementary School principal. "We've talked about this for a long time, and it's finally happening."

Students, faculty and staff gathered outside Friday afternoon to take one last photo in front of the old building. They smiled and waved at the camera as they prepared to close one chapter and open the next.

A few years ago, the Provo School District sold the aging Wasatch building to BYU in exchange for another property to the east on Locust Lane. That's where the new $44 million school, also named Wasatch Elementary, is now standing and ready to welcome students.

"Honestly, it's spectacular," Snow said. "It still has a view of Y mountain and a beautiful view of the lake and the valley."

Even in a new building, she added, the school will live on.

"We're taking all the traditions with us that have made Wasatch a special place over the years," Snow said.

But it is nostalgic saying goodbye, especially for the KSL-TV journalist reporting this story. I attended Wasatch Elementary from 1990 to 1997. Walking through the halls again reminded me of things like science fairs, school lunches, and my sixth-grade graduation.

In fact, it's amazing how everything inside still looked exactly as I remembered it.

But the building is old and belongs now to BYU, which hasn't said yet what it plans to do with it.

For the Wasatch students, it's bittersweet to leave the building behind while looking ahead at what's to come.

"We've had a lot of memories here, so it's sort of sad to see it go," said Zachary Meng, a sixth grader. "But the new building's going to be cool."

Students at Wasatch Elementary will do remote learning on Monday and Tuesday before the new school opens on Wednesday.

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