Photo Gallery: School's Out...Well, at Least Until Fall

Somerset Heights Elementary, Friendly Hills Middle School and all the rest of School District 197’s captives gained their summer freedom early Thursday.

District schools let out late morning and just after noon Thursday, beginning the long summer holidays with a mixture of smiles and hugs, along with at least a few cases of tears and sadness.

At Somerset Elementary, many students were met by their parents who greeted each other, hugged their kids and thanked teachers and staff for their efforts this year. School Principal Mary Bowman led the wave as staff and teachers lined up to wave goodbye to the children riding the buses home.

The Friendly Hills halls were deceptively quiet just before the 12:15 p.m. early release. As the clock struck 12:15, however, and the strains of Alice Cooper’s “Schools Out” rang through the halls, the students enthusiastically left the building for a round of final day hugs and goodbyes before boarding the buses.

Students now have most of June, July and August to enjoy fun in the sun.

For parents, well the first day of school is Sept. 6.