Butterflies signal Mundelein school closing

Something beautiful came out of the closing of Lincoln School on Friday.

As students and staff bid farewell to the Mundelein school — for good, as the school is closing with the end of this school year — they released hundreds of butterflies.

Because of declining enrollment and budget concerns, the District 75 school board decided that closing Lincoln for good was the best option to preserve programs that otherwise might have been diluted or eliminated.

Though several additions were built over the years, the original portion of Lincoln was built in 1894 as a two-room country school. With the addition of a gym and stage in the 1930s, the school became even more ingrained as a community center of sorts and even as the end neared, staffers say old-timers would sometimes drop by to reminisce.

Lincoln closed once before, in 1979, because of declining enrollment but re-emerged in 1997 with an innovative curriculum and unique-year round schedule.

The schedule was dropped a few years ago but the learning practices will carry on as grades 3 to 5 from Lincoln will be consolidated with Mechanics Grove School.