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With heavy hearts, teachers and students turned up at PS 14 Friday, a day after the panel for educational policy voted to shut it down.

"Everybody's upset you know it's gonna be a difficult time. It's gonna be a hard time for the next couple of weeks," said PS 14 Parent Coordinator Tia Cranford.

PS 14 is the first and only school on Staten Island to be closed - a move the Department of Education says is necessary for the kindergarten through fifth grade students who attend and consistently score low on standardized tests.

Last year, just 23 percent of students performed at grade level in English, 31 percent at grade level in math - well below the city's averages.

"The staff was working hard. So I mean any misconception that the staff wasn't trying their best to get these kids ready is 100 percent wrong," said PS 14 teacher Steve Lyman.

The DOE plans to phase out PS 14 over the next three years and phase in PS 78. The new school will be opened at the same location, with new faculty and administration. Up to 50 percent of the staff at PS 14 can be hired at the new facility.

PS 14 will stay open for the older students until PS 78 completely takes over. Still, students worry about getting new teachers and about what school will be like in September.

"All the kids care for the school so if the school shuts down and all the people are different Then it's Gonna be like -it's Gonna be different," said fourth grader Angelys Nunez.

"I'm gonna miss all my old teachers and I'm gonna miss my old school," said fourth grader Angel Nunez.

To help clear up some of the confusion with the transition, the community education council is already working on forming an oversight committee to answer parent concerns.

The DOE has said it will work with that committee before the new school opens in the fall.