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SEA ISLE CITY - Eight folding metal chairs lined the stage of the school's cafeteria Thursday afternoon as eighth-grade students practiced when to sit and how to shake hands while accepting a diploma.

Science teacher Carol Thompson orchestrated the practice run to make sure the night's graduation from the Sea Isle City Elementary School went smoothly.

It would be the school's last.

"I know years ago there were two to three rows of students. You had to arrange them all different ways to get them in the picture," she said. "Now you organize them any way you want - we get them all in the front."

Facing declining enrollment and fewer children left in the seasonal city, the school board in March made a controversial decision to send fifth-grade to eighth-grade students to the Ocean City School District in the fall. Sea Isle's school will retain pre-kindergarten through fourth-grade classes.

The city's high school-age students have long attended Ocean City High School.

"It's sad, really sad," Andy Ferrilli, a critic of the school's decision and a parent of a graduating student, said following graduation. Ferrilli said his son in sixth grade was upset he cannot graduate from Sea Isle City.

Currently, the entire Sea Isle City school has fewer than 70 students. The fifth- to eighth-grade classes eat lunch together and take up only three tables.

In Thompson's 24-year teaching career at Sea Isle City, some classes had more than 30 graduating students, she said. Thompson will teach third grade next year in Sea Isle City.

By reducing the number of students, the school needed fewer teachers and employees, causing some to shift positions, change schools or lose jobs. Overall, three-non tenured teachers and seven hourly employees were not renewed at Sea Isle City, Interim Business Administrator Diane Bitting said.

The future of the excess school equipment has yet to be determined, she said.

Parent Liz Larkin watched her youngest daughter, Molly Larkin, 13, graduate Thursday night. Molly's two older sisters also graduated from Sea Isle City.

"What's the town going to be like if we don't have a school?" Liz Larkin asked. "I think it's sad for the kids. I'm sad because she's getting older, but I'm thrilled because she's going to do well at Ocean City."

"They're really a close group because there are only eight of them," Larkin said.

The enrollment at the city's only school decreased steadily since the 2001-02 school year, when there were 185 students. Since then, as the resort city's overall population grew along with the value of its homes, the youth population shrank.

The city lost its other school - the Catholic St. Joseph's Regional School - after Bishop McHugh opened in Dennis Township in 2000.

When she was in kindergarten, Molly Larkin had 14 children in her class, she said. In the fall, she'll be going to Ocean City High School, which has more than 1,300 students.

"It'll be weird … getting used to all different classes and kids," she said.

"And lockers," added eighth-grader Samantha Camerlengo.

Thompson's eighth-grade class on Thursday made retirement cards for teacher Victoria Jackson, who began teaching in 1971 and taught for Sea Isle City for 25 years, according to the school's final yearbook.

Afterward, the class assembled folding chairs for their families and taped their homemade banner - "We fine, We shine, The Class of 2009" - to a nearby wall for graduation.

The students graduated at 6 p.m. Thursday in a gymnasium adorned with purple flags that highlight past athletic successes, including Sea Isle City Sundevils Volleyball Champs in 1992, 1993, 1994, 1997, 1999, 2000 and 2002.

"Don't forget you are the last eighth grade class graduating from Sea Isle City public school," Mayor Leonard Desiderio said to the class. "So we are going to expect great things from each of you."

The afternoon's practice led to a nearly flawless graduation ceremony until the end, when only about half of the class tossed their blue caps in the air.

With eight students, it was easy to notice.

E-mail Brian Ianieri:

BIanieri@pressofac.com

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