PRESS PHOTOS BY DONNA GEWERTZ Julianne Smith and Kelly Hoban, special education teachers with Carbon-Lehigh Intermediate Unit 21, tour Clarence M. Gockley Elementary School during its open house April 24. Currently housed in the Parkland School District, the pair will be moved to the Whitehall-Coplay School District administration building once the Gockley building transitions to its new role. A new elementary school is nearing completion on the WCSD campus, at Mechanicsville and MacArthur roads.

Drew Holubowski and other alumni browse through class photos and yearbooks from Gockley Elementary as part of the building's last open house as the home to the Whitehall-Coplay School District's kindergarten and first-grade classes.

WCSD Superintendent Dr. Robert Steckel Jr. and Gockley Principal Denise Saylor staff the main entrance of the school during the open house. All students in the WCSD began their school careers at Gockley since the building was constructed in 1978 - making the school “a great place to start.”

Former educators and support staff gather for a reunion of sorts in the Gockley library during the school's open house.

Brothers Isaiah and Timothy Bisono, of Whitehall Township, reminisce about their days at Gockley. The pair last attended the elementary school in 2011 and 2006, respectively.

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Christopher Lubenetski; Dan Attieh, holding his youngest daughter, Sylvia; Michele Hanzl-Race; Erin Gruver-Huff; Mark Clewell; Tara Ginkinger Krische; Deadre Pascoe Clewell; and Missie Lawall represent the school's first kindergarten class from 1978.

Former Gockley student Auden Wulf, now in sixth grade at Whitehall-Coplay Middle School, shows his kindergarten photo in the yearbook.