Last Day of School

Gales Ferry and Juliet W. Long Principal Mary Porter-Price was out on the sidewalk in front of the school this morning, greeting students arriving by bus, as she has on countless mornings over the past 16 years.

For Porter-Price, who is retiring this year, it was the last time she will welcome pupils to a new day at the school she has led since 1995.

If she was sad, she certainly didn't show it. She smiled and called to children by name. One of the students handed her a bouquet of flowers, which she happily accepted.

One after another, she accompanied busloads of kids inside, returning to greet the next bus, savoring these final moments of a career in education that has spanned 39 years. 

Well done. And best wishes for a happy, healthy and well-deserved retirement.