Vandalia Elementary reunion marks end of an era before closure

Former students and teachers filled Vandalia Elementary with yearbooks, old memories and one last round of hallway talk as the Greensboro school moved toward closure. For Angail Wiley, who attended from third through fifth grade, the gathering captured the larger meaning of the shutdown: “It’s the end of an era.”

Vandalia, at 407 E. Vandalia Road, is one of four Guilford County elementary schools in the district’s consolidation plan. Under the boundary changes approved by the Guilford County Board of Education on June 10, 2025, after a public comment period that ran from May 13 to June 10, 2025, Vandalia and Washington are set to close after the 2025-26 school year, with new boundaries taking effect for 2026-27. Madison Elementary is also closing in 2026, while Southern Elementary is scheduled to close in 2027-28. District materials say the closures were tied to the long-range facilities master plan and updated enrollment projections.

That shift reaches far beyond one building. Students now enrolled at Vandalia will be reassigned under boundary changes that affect Bessemer, Bluford, Falkener, Frazier, Gillespie Park, Pleasant Garden and Simkins elementaries. Guilford County Schools says the move is intended to use limited taxpayer dollars more efficiently, while also saving more than $1.7 million a year. The district says no staff members will lose their jobs, and human resources will work to place employees in suitable roles elsewhere in the system.

The reunion underscored what disappears when a school closes. Former teacher Alyson Clements reached out to Wiley to help organize the gathering, bringing alumni back into the halls to flip through old yearbooks and reconnect with classmates before the building shuts its doors as a neighborhood school. Vandalia currently serves pre-K through 5, with 257 students and 16.75 classroom teachers in the 2024-25 school year. Principal LaToy Kennedy leads the school now, but the emotional weight of the closure was evident in the stories alumni shared about clubs, teachers and the routines that shaped them.

Wiley said Vandalia gave her opportunities that helped build her interests and leadership skills, including photography club, art club, step club and student leadership roles. That personal history mirrors the broader concern families raised around the county: Washington Elementary was reported at 42% capacity, and parents described their schools as small, tight-knit communities that could not be easily recreated in larger buildings.

District leaders say the transition should not change class sizes in grades K-3 because state law sets those limits. They also say larger schools may offer a broader range of enrichment, including music, art, physical education and library media. For families around Vandalia, though, the real change is simpler and harder to measure: a familiar school is disappearing, and next year’s routines will be built around a new map of Greensboro.