Some local students are gearing up for summer vacation, but they won't be going back to Scott Elementary in the fall. The Merrill School District is dealing with declining enrollment and a tight budget, so they're closing the Scott School doors for good.

About 80 Scott students will be joining classes at Jefferson Elementary, which is about five minutes away from Scott, so Monday was all about goodbyes. There was still excitement for summer vacation, but also a lot of sadness.

The students, staff and parents say they form more than just a school community.

"It's been a great family here," says Jenny Niemeyer, who has three kids at Scott. "The staff is wonderful, all the parents know the teachers, all the teachers know the students, the students know the teachers. It's just a really great family atmosphere for an elementary school."

"Even the first graders, you can call and know their names right away," says Kendra Oestreich, a 5th grader at Scott.

"It's like a big family," says Janessa Porath, also a 5th grader.

Jeff Damrau is the principal of both Scott and Jefferson Elementaries. He says it should be a smooth transition for the first through fifth graders who'll be transferring schools.

The kids have taken field trips with their future classmates and visited Jefferson to meet the teachers, and a lot of the students went to kindergarten at Jefferson before they went to Scott.

Principal Damrau said all eight teachers will go to Jefferson with the students, and the rest of the staff are finding other positions in the district, or will retire. A year from now, Midway Elementary in Merrill will be closing as well for the same reasons.