When the Roger B. Chaffee School at the United States Naval Air Station closes in three months' time, fewer than 195 students and 23 teachers will walk through its doors for the last time -- a far cry from its peak when more than 1400 students attended the school.

Even on opening day in September 1956, there were 300 youngsters, a principal, 12 teachers, and a secretary.

Like many dependents' schools at military installations, Chaffee has become a victim of the US Government's cut-back on bases worldwide, and there is more than a little sadness in the hearts of its faculty, staff, students and alumni that the end of a proud era has come.

For some, it will mean not just finding a new school, but a major upheaval in their lives.

There are teachers who have been at the school for 20 years and were within sight of retirement. Others have married Bermudians and are raising families here, but will be forced to choose between going wherever the Department of Defence sends them or quitting.

Some students have known no other school and have mostly Bermudian friends.

Others have become deeply involved in the local community for more than a decade and feel very much a part of the Island.

And there is the young principal who had hoped to enjoy more than two years in a posting which allows him to indulge his passion for fishing.

Beyond the school gates, past students are also saddened that their alma mater is going out of existence. No longer will they be able to visit their former seat of learning and rekindle a host of memories, for it is to rehouse the St.

George's Secondary School.

"There is a sense of sadness that it is closing,'' said Mrs. Gail Miller Henderson, a student from 1972-78. "The alumni have always enjoyed going back and looking through the school. We just hope that St. George's Secondary School will take care of it. The Department of Education is very fortunate. It is so well kept and has lovely grounds. It is a great facility that the children of Bermuda will now be able to enjoy.'' Asked what she remembered most about her school days, Mrs. Henderson said: "The team support. Because there weren't a lot of children when I was there the classes were fairly small and we got a lot of individual attention. It was a first-class school. The best thing I ever did was go to Chaffee.'' Mrs. Henderson was particularly appreciative of the school's work release programme, which allowed students to combine their studies with on-the-job training.

"Chaffee was of the first to have that,'' she recalled. "It was an excellent experience.'' For former student Mr. Dalzell (Dal) Tucker, memories of Kindley Air Force Base Dependents' School, as it was known during his school days, are similarly warm.

Mr. Tucker, whose mother Mary taught at the school for 20 years, was in Kindley's last graduating class before the name changed to Chaffee. He completed his entire general studies there from kindergarten through high school (1957-70).

Today, a kaleidoscope of memories rush through his mind when he recalls "those great days'', among them the "fun times'' he had on the local buses taking him to and from his Southampton home, with congenial drivers like Mr.

"Cookie'' Rogers, Mr. Hayward and Mr. Wade; and principal Mr. Joblin, "a strict disciplinarian who was always after us about our hair''.

"It was in the '60s and people were growing their hair longer,'' Mr. Tucker said. "We'd try but we wouldn't get very far!'' Among the cafeteria staff, Mr. Tucker remembered "some fantastic people'' like Mr. Donnie Steede and his wife, who were "there for years''.

"They always had something cheerful to say and made lunchtime very nice,'' he said.

As a sportsman, he remembered Kindley winning at rugby but losing at football, and how keen the school was on physical fitness.

Above all, Mr. Tucker remembered the camaraderie.

For present-day students, the closing is being faced with equal sadness, not least because it is disruptive and means the youngsters must leave behind a lifestyle and local friends they really enjoy.

Tim Reid is a case in point. Because he wants to graduate from Chaffee before it closes, the student is pursuing a special study programme whereby four years are compressed into three through a mixture of regular classes and a correspondence course.

Arriving here as a third grader in 1986, Tim is now in his final year of high school and has lived through a lot of upheaval.

"When I first came I had a lot of friends, but after two years they all left and I had to make new ones. I started hanging around Bermudians because I knew they would never leave.'' So completely has the lad "adopted'' the Island that he even speaks with a broad Bermudian accent. Leaving will be a real wrench.

"I don't want to leave, I have got a lot of friends here. I like the climate and the people are very nice, but I will come back and visit,'' he said.

Eleventh grader Michelle Moss, who has been here 15 years, is making sure that no-one forgets Chaffee. She is creating a commemorative issue of the school newspaper, The Falcon Flyer. "I am putting together an archive edition,'' she explained. "The paper has been going for 12 years and I am taking articles from various editions to show the way the school has changed over the years, and the seniors who have left. It will be stored at the Bermuda Library.'' School closure tinged with sadness From Page 28 For the Chaffee faculty, the closing brings no joy but many challenges.

Employed by the Department of Defence to teach in US military dependents' schools, the teachers know that transfers are part of life, but some have been at the school for many years.

Father-of-three Mr. Lee Hasselbring is a case in point. Arriving here from Okinawa in 1981 he teaches science and mathematics to grades seven through 12.

His wife teaches at Mount St. Agnes Academy, and his children have grown up here, all attending Chaffee.

A son who graduated in 1987 and went on to the University of Illinois, has returned to the Island, and once did a stint as a substitute teacher at his old alma mater.

From the beginning, the Hasselbring family lived off-Base in St. David's, and entered fully into local community life. They grew to love the ocean, the people, the sports, and everything else that Bermuda had to offer. Now his family must sort out its future. Mr. Hasselbring has been accepted at the University of Iowa and Perdue to pursue a Master's degree in science education, and may possibly go on to study for his Ph.D. He is currently awaiting news on his application for a year's leave of absence.

Looking back over his years at Chaffee, he says one of the biggest changes has been the number of opportunities for students to travel overseas and participate in such educational experiences as the Model UN and the Jason Project -- a development which really pleases him.

For first-grade and music teacher Mrs. Karel Smith, an American-born mother of twins who is married to a Bermudian, the closure of Chaffee will present her with a challenge. A dedicated teacher who has been with the school for two decades, she too comes under the jurisdiction of the Department of Defence.

Like all teachers (but not principals) if she refuses a posting she is out of the system.

While not averse to an interesting foreign posting, her home and young family are rooted in Bermuda. In the next few months she also will have to make an important decision.

"Chaffee has been my life and it is disconcerting not knowing what is going to happen after June,'' she said. "For 20 years I have been able to plan my life and now I don't know what is going to happen. I am in a unique situation.

I was hired in Bermuda but I am attached to the Department of Defence.'' For British-born Mrs. Moyra Benbow, the closure is a real disappointment -- she had only five years to go before retirement. Her professional future is as uncertain as tomorrow's weather.

The deviser of the innovative Bermuda Culture curriculum at Chaffee, it has been the former Warwick Academy teacher's exclusive province to teach her students all there is to know about this tiny mid-Atlantic island on a daily basis. The curriculum has included exciting field trips.

Once she adjusted to the cultural differences between British-style and US schools, Mrs. Benbow settled in well, and has watched with pride how enthusiastically her students and the community have responded to her efforts.

"As a school group, wherever we visited we were treated as a local school and welcomed wherever we wanted to go. We have had great support from the community over the 20 years I have been involved,'' she said.

"We have ridden around St. George's harbour in a Search & Rescue boat and camped on Paget Island. Every class goes to the Aquarium for talks, and also to Dockyard. We were in the House of Assembly listening to the debate. I have really enjoyed my time here.'' The married Bermuda resident's future is uncertain, but she says, "I may continue teaching in a local school, depending on what is available.'' Asked what impressed her the most about working at Chaffee, she said it was the ready availability of teaching aids.

Mrs. Smith agreed. "Anything you want, you have only to ask and it is provided,'' she said.

Chaffee's final principal, Mr. Michael Diekmann, arrived in December 1992 with his wife and two small children, hoping for a long posting. Instead, he finds himself presiding over the closure of a much-loved school.

A former primary school teacher, he accepts his departure from Bermuda with great reluctance, but philosophically.

"It has been just spectacular here,'' he said. "Apart from enjoying the school and Bermuda, I am an avid fisherman, and love taking my two boys out in my little boat every chance I get.'' For the future, the Department of Defence will give him some options, and he has indicated that he wants to move to a middle school for a long tenure so that his sons can be educated in one place.

"I owe it to my children to give them stability as they grow up. My son is in the fifth grade and this is his fourth school. As an educator, I know what four schools in five years can do to a child,'' Mr. Diekmann explained.

Meanwhile, the principal is keeping a firm hand on the helm, and says that, apart from all the logistics of closing a big school, the hardest thing is keeping staff morale up and maintaining business as usual when things could not be more unusual.

"No student should suffer because the school is closing, so we have to keep focussed until the last child walks out,'' he said.

Photos by Tamell Simons CLASS ACT! Present and former students of Roger B. Chaffee School at the US Naval Air Station share a nostalgic moment with principal Mr. Michael Diekmann (back row centre) and faculty members (back row left to right) Mr. Fred Costin, Mrs. Karel Smith, Mr. Lee Hasselbring. Past and present students seated are (left to right) Mrs. Gail Miller Henderson, Miss Michelle Moss, Mr.

Tim Reid and Mr. Dalzell (Dal) Tucker.