“Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver and the other gold.” Good advice from the song I sang as a Girl Scout, which came to mind recently when I met other retired Bellevue School District administrators for a tour of the newly remodeled Bellevue High School (BHS).

My companions on this excursion included three former deputy superintendents – Dick Clark, Howard Johnson, and Karen Clark –- and former Assistant Superintendent Vicky Murray. Our tour guides were Nancy Larson and Jack McLeod, administrators from the district’s facilities department.

While people traded stories of their current lives, I thought about how much I enjoyed re-connecting with people I’d known for years, like a high school reunion, but with a short enough gap in time that we didn’t have to wear yearbook photos as name tags to recognize faces.

Seeing the new school was a treat. We joked that the entrance, with its view of the football field, sent a clear message about what was important in the minds of the denizens of the building. And we all agreed that if we were teaching there, we would want the classroom with the view of Meydenbauer Bay.

The most cheering change from the past was the presence of natural light everywhere. Among those in our group, Karen, who played more of a role in the project than the rest of us, said, “So many partial remodels over the years turned the school into a rabbit warren; the new school is functional, full of light and projects a wonderful sense of purpose.”

Dick led BHS as principal in the late sixties, Vicky served as a assistant principal in the late seventies and both delighted in the changes. Always the scholar, Dick paid close attention to the library, which he said, “is a marvel of the latest technology with easily accessible collections of books and periodicals.”

Vicky’s reaction was more wistful. “It was a moment filled with a sense of wonderment, a bit of longing and nostalgia.  A bit of longing because while we all made the decision to leave the work we did for so many years, a part of you is always there. Nostalgia because we re-connected to the staff still working at the school and because I toured with my former boss and colleagues.”

Howard thought back to the past BHS staff, as if he hoped they could return to see the change. “How different they would find the new facility with its flexible spaces, computer technology, and open hallways.”

By the end of our tour, I knew the Girl Scout ditty still applied when it came to these long-time friends. However, we all preferred the new school to the old, because the old one was neither silver nor gold, but more like bronze.

Ann Oxrieder has lived in Bellevue for 35 years. She retired after 25 years as an administrator in the Bellevue School District and now blogs about retirement at http://stillalife.wordpress.com/.