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By MEGAN MIDDLETON
Staff Writer

As school let out for the summer at Grace Community School's lower campus Wednesday, a steady flow of students and parents stopped by the office to say goodbye to longtime principal Sue Johnson, who is retiring after 31 years of service.

Student after student hugged her tightly, sometimes several at one time, as she wished each of them a great summer.

"Bye sweetheart - I'll be checking on you," she said to one little girl as they hugged.

Mrs. Johnson began as a kindergarten teacher and went on to teach several grades at Grace. She has served as the principal at the lower campus for the last 13 years.

Her last official day of work will be June 30.

"The people here are so loving and kind and so gracious," Mrs. Johnson said in her office after school dismissed Wednesday. "I'm so rich to have been the recipient of their goodness all these years ... I know how blessed I've been."

The last several days have been full of well wishes from students and staff at Grace.

During fifth-grade graduation Wednesday, the school's headmaster recognized her service, and parents gave her a standing ovation. During the school's chapel service Monday, she was given decorated note cards from the students, who had written her words of encouragement.

Each grade level had a different way of writing the notes. Some explained why they love Mrs. Johnson and others wrote about what she reminds them of.

Sorting through the box of about 500 note cards in her office Wednesday, Mrs. Johnson read one that said, "When I see the stars in the sky, it reminds me of Mrs. Johnson because her eyes twinkle like the stars." Another read, "When I hear a bird singing, it reminds me of Mrs. Johnson because she has a soft, beautiful voice."

"What a treasure," she responded.

"I told them any day that I feel sad in this retirement, this box is coming out," she said laughing.

In April, the school also hosted a retirement reception, where she was presented with a plaque naming a planned addition to the lower campus on Old Jacksonville Highway the "Sue Johnson Elementary Addition" in her honor.

Since her start at the school in the mid-1970s, she has seen buildings change, a dramatic increase in enrollment, new leadership and the refining of curriculum so biblical principles are better integrated, she said.

What hasn't changed is the mission, she said.

"We're still about assisting families to help them raise up their kids to honor and glorify Christ and all the while giving them a great, academic education," she said. "I believe in so many ways we've had the blessing of the Lord because we've kept that a constant."

What she'll miss most about being at Grace is the students, their parents and the staff members, some of whom have been at Grace alongside her for more than 25 years.

She has a motherly and grandmotherly feeling toward the students and parents, she said.

"It goes beyond just being their school principal," she said. "It's a family feeling that I have toward so many of the families that I really will miss."

But retirement will give her the chance to spend more time with her actual family - her 11 grandchildren and her husband who has been retired for eight years now.

When asked if she will be back to visit Grace, she quickly and gleefully replied, "Oh, of course - absolutely."

But she won't be there that first week of school.

During her retirement reception she was surprised with a trip to New York City, strategically planned for that first week of school.

In the fall, though, she does plan to teach a Bible study one morning a week for parents of young children at Grace.

"I'll get to be up here a little bit, and I'm looking forward to that," she said.

Grace Headmaster Jay Ferguson said Wednesday that they will miss Mrs. Johnson and appreciate her valuable contribution to the elementary. She's brought her knowledge, her Christian perspective, an ability to communicate with parents in an effective way and her integrity to the school, Ferguson said.

"The good thing about it is Sue loves the school and she's committed to it and she's going to stay involved in some volunteer areas," he said. "She's going to continue to be a vital part of what we do at Grace. I'm really thankful for her in that regard."

Karla Foreman, the current assistant principal, will take over as principal of the elementary when Mrs. Johnson retires.

Mrs. Johnson said she is confident in Mrs. Foreman as she takes the helm of the lower campus.

"She is so competent. She is such a godly woman. She will take the school to new heights," Mrs. Johnson said. "I feel so confident in her leadership. The staff admires and respects her ... I'm so thankful she's here."

Mrs. Foreman said she wants to steward the opportunity well and be faithful.

"I'm being handed something that has been tenderly grown," she said. "I want to steward it well."

She also said of taking over for Mrs. Johnson as principal, "Her shoes are impossible to fill, but nobody here expects me to. I'm grateful for that," Mrs. Foreman said, adding, though, that Mrs. Johnson has been "very gentle but very intentional over the past couple of years in really trying to do all she could to equip me."

Mrs. Johnson has kept the mission of the school "very crystal clear," Mrs. Foreman said when asked how Mrs. Johnson has impacted the school.

"The mission is assisting Christian parents to equip their children to influence the world for Christ," she said. "Another one of her big impacts is that she models, better than anyone I've ever known, the qualities of humility, integrity, genuine joy."

Mrs. Johnson has made an impact on students, as well.

"She always knows everyone's names and greets them by name. She'll stand in the hall in the mornings and kids come in and she greets them by name - 480 kids," she said. "She genuinely honors everybody she meets, including the kids, and they feel that way - that she has time for them, that they're important to her."

When Mrs. Foreman moves to the principal's position, Jennifer Dozier, who currently is the lead kindergarten teacher, will become the assistant principal.

Ms. Dozier, a teacher for 12 years at Grace, called it an honor to have worked under Mrs. Johnson, who she called "such a godly example for us."

"She will be sorely missed, though we're happy for her to be able to be moving to this stage in her life, this chapter in her life," she said. "I don't think it's all the way sunk in yet that she won't be here next year."

The students are sad to see her go, Ms. Dozier said. She's heard the fifth-graders talk about how they're glad they got the chance to be at school there before she left.

"They love Mrs. Johnson," she said.

While her school family will miss her, they said they are glad for her and what lies ahead for her future.

Mrs. Foreman expects Mrs. Johnson will have fun and be busy in her retirement.

"I'm excited for her," Mrs. Foreman said. "I think she's doing it (retiring) in the ideal way. It's by her choice, and it's at a time when she feels secure about doing it and she's universally loved and appreciated and she's had a huge impact. That's the best way to leave a place."

And Mrs. Johnson sees a bright future ahead for Grace Community School.

"I feel like I'm leaving and the party is fixing to start," she said, laughing. "I really do believe the best days - the greatest days - are ahead. And yet I smile at that."