Kevin Spencer hugs Carolyn Henritze as he makes the rounds during a dinner date for former employees of Raleigh Court Elementary School.

Photos by ERIC BRADY The Roanoke Times

Melissa Stiles (from left), Mary Jane Barrett and Venecia Thompson talk during a recent gathering of employees who once worked at Raleigh Court Elementary School. The educators get together for dinner at the Roanoker Restaurant once a month.

The Roanoke School Board made huge waves last spring when its members voted to shutter permanently two of the city's schools to save money for the cash-strapped division.

The classrooms of Raleigh Court Elementary and William Ruffner Middle schools closed in June after educating students for four decades.

Staff from the two schools have moved on -- some employees accepted reassignments, others left the school system or retired. But many still celebrate the friendships formed in the workplace.

A group from Raleigh Court gathers monthly at the Roanoker Restaurant to catch up over dinner, share memories and talk about new jobs.

Former Raleigh Court Principal Babette Cribbs, who became principal at Wasena Elementary School, said change can sometimes be tough, but that she is no stranger to it.

"I came up in a Navy family," Cribbs said. "The first time I was in a place longer than four years was college."

She was Raleigh Court's top administrator for five years. She said she has enjoyed getting to know the Wasena students and their families since school started. Wasena has about 100 fewer students than Raleigh Court did, and they are all taught under one roof, unlike the campus-style setup of the old school on Grandin Road. But familiar faces were few on the first day of school; only two Raleigh Court students transferred to Wasena when the school board revised attendance zones citywide.

Ruffner's former principal, Melva Belcher, now works in the school system's central administration building. She still spends some time in the schools, filling in for principals when they are out for extended stretches. So far this year she has spent a couple of weeks at Stonewall Jackson Middle School and Roanoke Academy for Mathematics and Science.

As an administrator on assignment, Belcher monitors federal funds for instructional programs and public school choice.

"At this age and stage, I do what has to be done," she said.

Belcher has worked in public education for 38 years. She was principal at Ruffner for one year and before that was principal at Westside Elementary School for four years.

Darlene Waldron taught mathematics for more than two decades at Ruffner. This year she moved to James Breckinridge Middle School, where she teaches math to seventh- and eighth-grade students.

"I like the location and the supportive faculty members, but I am still adjusting to the transition of a different environment," Waldron said.

At least one-fourth of the students and many of the teachers she sees every day are the same ones she taught and worked with at Ruffner.

Leaving Raleigh Court was tough for Kevin Spencer. The school holds sentiment for the teacher -- it was where he met his wife, Martha, in the 1990s.

Last school year the Spencers and their two sons, Edward and John, rode to school together most days. Martha Spencer is teaching at Parkway Christian Academy in Northeast Roanoke this year and the boys also attend the private school.

Kevin Spencer, who taught science at Raleigh Court, stayed with the city schools. He is an instructional technology resource teacher and splits his time among three elementary schools: Crystal Spring, Fishburn Park and Westside.

"I really, really, really like what I am doing," he said.

Kevin Spencer, who's probably better known as the runner who dresses up in a turkey suit to promote the Roanoke Rescue Mission's annual Drumstick Dash, works with teachers at the three schools to integrate technology into the classroom. It was a job he said he wanted for a while, but he said he could never bring himself to leave Raleigh Court.

It's the fun stuff he misses about teaching, such as hanging out with the children, he said. But he doesn't miss the extra class planning he put in before and after school.

There is one tradition he has maintained. Whether he is at Crystal Spring or Fishburn Park or Westside, he eats lunch in the cafeteria every day. He dines among students.

"I miss the kids, I guess, getting to hear some of their stories," Spencer said. "Every single day [at Raleigh Court] I ate with the kids. That's one of the things I kept up."

The school system still is using both facilities this year. Roanoke Technical Education Center's culinary arts program holds classes in the cafeteria at Raleigh Court and wrestling teams practice in the school's gymnasium. By next school year, a new culinary arts space should be completed in Patrick Henry High School, which will mean educational space at Raleigh Court will no longer be needed. Ownership of the building may revert to the city, or the building might be demolished and replaced with athletic fields.

Ruffner houses the division's occupational health and nursing departments. Long-term plans included relocating the maintenance, health services, food services, testing assessment and information technology departments from various sites elsewhere in the city. The gymnasium will continue to be utilized for community sports and functions.