When word got out that the Highline School District was planning to close SeaTac's Valley View Elementary, support poured in from former students trying to save it.

At a public hearing to discuss the proposed closures, former Principal Judy Longstreth read one letter from an ex-student now working at a prestigious Wall Street firm in New York City.

He wrote that he had concluded that his education at the alternative public school was as good as the education his colleagues received at expensive East Coast prep schools.

While three out of the district's five board members had enrolled a child at Valley View, the board voted 3-2 to close the school. But unlike three other schools that shut down in June 2005, Valley View received a two year-reprieve.

A newly rebuilt Bow Lake Elementary will open in September, housing current Bow Lake pupils and students transferring from Valley View.

Before Valley View closes, present and former staff, students and parents are having two final celebrations on Saturday, June 2.

All ages are invited to the school from 1 to 5 Saturday afternoon, while adults only will get together from 7 to 10 p.m. for a light dinner at the Doubletree Hotel along SeaTac's International Boulevard.

Doubletree has partnered with the school on many events.

To register for either celebration, call 206-433-2377 or visit www.valleyview.my event.com.

The afternoon activities will include some of the traditions that Valley View has been known for.

"Lit in the Pit" will feature students reading aloud from a favorite passage in the school's sunken library.

"It was always very touching and very fun," Longstreth, principal from 1998 to 2003, recalled. "It also prompted kids to read more."

Students, teachers and parents will also bring stuffed animals to celebrate "Teddy Bear Day."

A guest speaker will talk about bears and someone will surely bake Teddy bear cookies.

Adults will participate in a talent show and students will put on a Shakespearean play.

P. E. teachers will supervise some of the students' favorite games while school memorabilia will be sold at a silent auction.

What makes the school, opened in 1969, different is the open classroom concept.

The "school without walls" featured two classes of different grade levels with two teachers within each classroom.

The classes could be taught separately or come together for an activity, according to Longstreth.

The students might be taught language and social studies in the morning with one teacher, then have another teacher and classmates for math and science in the afternoon.

Math classes were grouped by ability, not grade level.

"We wanted to reach each student's ability," Longstreth noted.

On Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons, students took special elective classes designed by teachers.

For example, students might study "The History of Baseball," which would include using their math skills to compute statistics. The course ended with a field trip to a Mariners game.

"We are a school that really gets out and about," Longstreth said, recalling the large amount of field trips the students took.

In 1981, Newsweek magazine spotlighted Valley View as a model for alternative schools.

A few years back, the school received two large national grants to design a social studies program incorporating technology.

"The school prides itself on making it interesting and challenging for students and a wonderful place to teach," Longstreth added.

But despite its accolades, the school was built to house only about 300 pupils. To save money, district officials want elementary schools that hold 600 students.

The new Bow Lake School will not have open classrooms but will have several classrooms in "pods" that could combine for some activities, according to Longstreth.

"Hopefully, the Valley View philosophy combined with the Bow Lake approach will bring out the best of both," she concluded.