In its place will stand a three-story school with smaller classrooms and an underground thermal heating system — but there’s no way to replace or rebuild the memories from the 68-year-old school building.

“Everyone here remembers exactly where they were when President Kennedy was shot, and I was here,” said Wendy Laycock, the school’s librarian. She attended Timpanogos Elementary between 1957-1964.

“I was where Mrs. Pinegar’s class is now, standing by the window when they made the announcement in the school, and the girl standing next to me burst out crying.”

Not every memory Laycock has of the school is as intense as this one, but some are just as life-altering.

“I remember sitting on the playground and thinking he smelled good,” she said of a boy she had a crush on in kindergarten. “I told myself, ‘I am going to marry this boy someday.’ “

And she did.

The building is slated for demolition this summer. Timpanogos teachers are expected to have everything packed up and ready to move by June 1. In the process of filling boxes and emptying closets, other faculty members at the school have found hidden treasures and discovered the original use for their office space back in the building’s youth.

“The building has definitely undergone some changes over the years,” said Desiree Vail, the school’s literacy coordinator, who has been teaching at the school for 13 years.

A Timpanogos Elementary has stood on the school grounds at 449 N. 500 West since 1892.

The original school served students for 50 years before being torn down. The present day school was dedicated Nov. 12, 1938, and the school’s play area is where the original school sat.

Offices have been made out of the old entryway of the current school building, a cafeteria was added to the school during an expansion project, and one closet is no longer used to store kindergartners with wet pants who were waiting for their underwear to dry.

“I’ve had a few little old ladies come into my room and want to see the closet, because they never got to go in there,” said Sharon Unufe, a kindergarten teacher at the school.

An old Dick and Jane Reader from the 1950s and a book order that was never sent in have been uncovered in classrooms.

But it’s not just the books, chairs and teachers that have changed at the school.

LeAnn Smith, the school’s instructional facilitator, has taught at the school for 28 years, and in that time she’s also seen the student body become more diverse. Now, about 50 percent of the school is Hispanic and 40 percent are English as a Second Language students.

Many of the school’s teachers are now ESL certified and have developed strategies to help all of the students have a good learning experience while at Timpanogos.

Next year, students who live within walking distance of the school will be bused to the Oakridge school at 1165 Birch Lane, just east of the Brigham Young University campus. The new school is expected to be finished by the 2008-09 school year.

“I’ll miss the memories and romance of it all, but it will be nice to have something more modern,” Laycock said.

To celebrate the school’s history, memories and location, Timpanogos Elementary is sponsoring a farewell celebration on the school grounds this Saturday.

It will start at 7:30 a.m. with a pancake breakfast, early morning neighborhood fun run, guided tours of the building and entertainment throughout the morning.

For more information, contact the school at 374-7955.

Brooke Barker is available at 344-2559 or bbarker@heraldextra.com.

Timpanogos Elementary Farewell Celebration

When: 7:30 a.m. Saturday

Where: 449 N. 500 West, Provo

Cost: $10 for a family of six, or $2.50 per person before Saturday; $15 for a family of six, or $3 per person on Saturday.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page C1.