More than four decades ago, the first time capsule was buried at Bergen Meadow Elementary School. On April 19, it and four other capsules emerged from the ground to the cheers of the school’s excited young students.
Principal Kristen Hyde and three second-graders unearthed the five ammo cans — the oldest rimmed with rust from its decades in the ground — that contain artifacts from the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. The last was buried in 2011, on the school’s 40th anniversary.
What’s in them was a mystery — but not for long. Evergreen photographer Ellen Nelson photographed and documented each item. They will be on display during a 4 p.m. May 1 Bergen Meadow closing celebration.
After 53 years and in the face of declining enrollment, Bergen Meadow Elementary will close its doors May 24, the last day of the school year. In the fall, its students will join the current Bergen Valley’s third through fifth grade student body, and that school will be renamed Bergen Elementary.
The existing five time capsules and their contents, repacked in new ammo cans, will be re-buried at Bergen Elementary in the fall. With them, the school will bury a sixth time capsule, this one reflecting 2024. The intent is that the capsules not be unearthed again until 2074, another 50 years.
That was also the intent in 1981, when the first capsule was buried, said Hyde, principal of both Bergen Meadow and Bergen Valley schools. But the school’s closure, and uncertainty about the future use of the building, changed those plans.
“So many people in the community helped collect artifacts and bury those time capsules,” she said. “They asked us to please make sure we dug them up. Now all of them will go with us to Bergen Elementary.”
The May 1 closing ceremony is a chance for current and former students to walk the halls one last time. In addition to documenting the time capsules’ contents, Nelson used a drone and camera to photograph Bergen Meadow inside and out, including pictures of each handprint on the school walls. The handprints signify second-graders’ passage to Bergen Valley.
That footage will be available to students, teachers and alumni.
“That way, someone who can no longer walk in the halls and be here could see and be a part of that,” said Pam Lush Lindquist, a former Bergen parent who organized the school’s 40th anniversary celebration.
While Hyde said many former school staffers and community members are feeling emotional about the school’s closing, Bergen Meadow’s staff and students are looking forward to the change.
“People are really excited to be all together,” she said. “We already share staff, and among our students, siblings who may now be in separate schools are really excited to be together. There’s a big feeling of anticipation.
“But there’s nostalgia among staff and community who are no longer here,” she continued. “That’s really why we’re opening our doors again on May 1, as a walk down memory lane.”
The Jeffco school board voted in November 2022 to close 16 schools with declining enrollment, including Bergen Meadow.
Bergen Meadow and Bergen Valley — located less than two miles apart and known together as The Bergens — share a principal; buses; a PTA; a digital teacher librarian; art, music and physical education teachers; mental health professionals and more.
Jeffco Public Schools is building a 15,000-square-foot, 10-classroom addition to Bergen Valley Elementary School to prepare for its new students and transformation to Bergen Elementary.