At Arena Community Elementary School, teachers were determined to put on a brave face in the final weeks.

Students were cheered by a roller skating party, a field trip to the Wisconsin Dells, and on the last day, an end-of-the-year celebration and potluck.

Melissa Schmid, whose 10-year-old stepson, Evan, completed fourth grade this year, said she wished she had fought harder to keep the Arena school open. When the time comes for her 1-year-old daughter, she and her husband have decided to send her to school in a different district to spare her a long bus ride.

She worries about the value of their house. New people aren’t moving to Arena much anyway. But they definitely won’t now.

“We basically have a bank and a cheese factory,” Ms. Schmid said. “It’s not going to be a growing community.”

Mr. Wermuth, the district administrator, walked through the halls of the Arena school on a recent morning, pointing out the library, the gym, the classrooms where children in Packers sweatshirts huddled over books and puzzles. He is unsure what will become of the building.

There has been talk of turning it into a day care, a food pantry, maybe some sort of town hall. In the meantime, Mr. Wermuth is hopeful it will be used for basketball games and other community activities, just so it won’t be left to stand empty.