Students wrapped up the last day of classes at Our Lady of Mercy Academy with tears in their eyes and yearbooks in hand Tuesday as the all-girls Catholic high school in Syosset ended its nearly 100-year run. The doors won’t officially close until after finals and Regents exams later this month, but days of formal instruction are over at the historic building that some students said felt more like a second home. “I thought it was really sad today,” said Natalie Cuevas, 17, a junior from Huntington.
“It’s really hard to watch your friends all crying for the same reason. Also, not all my friends are going to the same school as me, so that's very sad. And it's like, oh, this is our .
.. last of last.
” The school, which opened in 1928 with 11 pupils, has had nearly 10,000 young women walk through its halls. “For 96 years, the faculty and staff of OLMA have played a pivotal role in shaping the lives of generations of students, instilling values that extend far beyond the classroom so that they will make a difference in our world,” Margaret Myhan, the school's president, said in response to a Newsday inquiry. Students said Tuesday's farewell was filled with not only tears, including at a morning mass, but also moments of joy.
They signed each other's yearbooks and white polo uniform shirts. Some students and parents said the school’s fate was hardest on members of the junior class. They faced a challenging academic year that normally would have been filled with prep.