A goodbye party always has that strange juxtaposition of happiness and sadness. 

On Friday at Aliso Elementary, the school's year-end carnival was a fun, if bittersweet, celebration for students and staff of the Lake Forest school, which will close for the last time at the end of this school year.

Many people who attended wore the blue "Save Aliso" T-shirts that they had worn when they tried to convince the school board not to close the school. The board voted in May to shutter Aliso, effective June 30, due to declining enrollment.

The Parent Teacher Association, which hosted the party, spent about $15,000 it had raised for Aliso programs that are no longer going to take place on the event for the school's 386 students.

That meant the carnival was far more extravagant than it could have been in years' past, said Allyson Shimasaki, who organized the event for the PTA.

Children played carnival games for prizes, got spray-on tattoos and vamped it up in a fun photo booth. They also played on inflatable slides and obstacle courses, competed in hula hoop contests, and ate cotton candy and ice cream.

The event was held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., during school hours, so all students could attend. Some former Aliso teachers stopped by to visit, including a retired teacher who flew in from Arizona, Shimasaki said.

“It’s not normally something we’d be able to do,” Shimasaki said. “I’m just happy we are getting to celebrate what a spectacular community this is, and to have an opportunity to have the entire school come together.”

“Today’s been so cool,” said Khash Bagheri, a fifth grader, as he ate a popsicle while waiting in line to jump on an inflatable obstacle course. “It’s fun.”

Bagheri, who will attend Olivewood Elementary next year, said he was sad to learn his school will close.

“I like the teachers here the best,” he said.

Esperanza Garcia, a sixth grader, said she will miss her small school that is “right in the middle of all these houses.”

“It was going to be sad anyway because I’m graduating,” said Garcia, who will attend Serrano Intermediate next year. “I think it’s a privilege we’re the last sixth graders ever here.”

Pauline Herbert, a second-grade teacher who is retiring this year after teaching at Aliso for 34 years, said that Friday’s celebration felt like a “mixed blessing.”

“It’s really sad, but I’m glad our PTA used their funds to do this for all of our children," Herbert said. "It’s helping them to laugh and celebrate."

“Our school has been very special. It’s extremely friendly and nurturing. I think of it like a Camelot,” she said. “It’s a time in history when everything came together. I have very special memories. All of us will cherish our times at Aliso.”