Nearly 50 recent high school graduates returned to the place where their education foundation was laid, as Saw Mill Road Elementary School hosted a Class of 2026 clap-out on June 22. Similar events also took place from June 18-25 at North Bellmore’s other elementary schools.

This year’s returning graduates were from the Saw Mill Road Class of 2020 and gathered in the lobby to reunite and get their nametags. Assistant Principal Daniel Madden led them through the building, where students from kindergarten through sixth grade lined the halls to cheer and applaud. Several Saw Mill Road students waved their handmade congratulatory signs. 

As the high school graduates walked through the halls, many wearing shirts of the colleges they will be attending, they high-fived students and hugged their former teachers. After the clap-out ended, they were then invited to walk around and visit with their elementary teachers of yesteryear. 

“It meant a lot,” said Rhyan Arias-Galarza, who attended Saw Mill Road from second to sixth grade and has two siblings there. “It showed where a lot of my success came from. It was very unreal.”

Principal Jeffrey Rosof noted that this was the second year the district has hosted clap-outs for its former students and he was thrilled to welcome them back. 

“It’s really a nice tradition that we’ve started,” he said, “to allow students to come full circle and return to their elementary roots.”