NEWBERN -- Caitlyn McReynolds is nervous. This fall, she won't return to her school in this small Pulaski County community for fifth grade and she'll have to make friends in a new environment.

"I don't want them to close the school. I'm pretty sad because I've been here my whole life," 10-year-old Caitlyn said Monday before taking her final nine weeks' exam.

After 56 years, Newbern Elementary School shuts its doors to students today for the final time, as Pulaski County continues school boundary adjustments set in motion when its newest elementary school, Riverlawn, opened this year in Fairlawn.

Next year, Caitlyn will attend Critzer Elementary School, where 27 of Newbern's 112 students are going. An additional 81 will go to Dublin Elementary School. A few will sprinkle into Riverlawn Elementary. The school's staff will disperse to separate schools, as well.

The Pulaski County School Board was expected to make a closed-door decision Thursday on where to send Newbern Principal Joe Reed.

The decision to close Newbern officially came in March, but community members caught wind of the idea as far back as 2005, after other small elementary schools, Claremont and Northwood, were shuttered.

Newbern, which still uses a coal-fire furnace, was slated for a renovation as late as 2002, but a $3 million price tag to upgrade its wiring and climate control systems proved too much for its declining enrollment. Of the 112 students, just 89 live in the village.

Newbern was the county's last school with just one classroom per grade level. It helped provide one-on-one attention for students and created a family atmosphere that students and staff say will be the most difficult part of adjusting to a new, larger school.

"We all know each other here," said office secretary Charleen Danner.

"When I see a parent, I know who their children are."

Moving to a larger school, even one with about 400 students such as Critzer, could be an adjustment for students, said Martin Strange, policy director for the Arlington-based Rural School and Community Trust.

A 2006 study from the trust found that smaller schools can help increase participation in extracurricular activities and advanced courses in part because of the one-on-one communication.

"In addition, small schools are frequently the glue that binds together small communities, serving as their economic and social hub," the report concluded. "Small villages that lose their schools lose more than a building -- they lose their collective cultural and civic center."

But a week before the final bell rings at Newbern, few signs that a community legacy was dying could be seen. The typical end-of-year pack was already under way -- rows of boxes piled throughout the five classrooms and library, teachers lamented the past year and students took more time to share early summertime stories.

On May 31, the community honored the school's five decades on the hill in Newbern.

At a goodbye gala that's become familiar to many in Pulaski County -- Newbern is the fifth school to close in a decade -- old friends and generations of past students flooded the school's one dim hallway and its cafeteria to relive memories.

There was the big snowstorm and days running behind in the fields.

For three hours, visitors scooted from one side of the tiled hallway to other to point out just where they sat or talk about their favorite teachers.

"This is like a funeral," said fourth-grade teacher Jeanie Anderson. She spent 33 years of her career at Newbern, and collected heaps of old class photos to share. She said the meet-and-greet with former students and colleagues reminded her of how much an impact the school truly has had.

Most others agree.

"I think every principal should start here," said Glenda Patton, the district's testing coordinator. She began her administrative career at Newbern. "Everybody here works well together, and that's a special place."