Kristi Carlsen Jewell’s plane landed at LaGuardia International Airport late Friday morning as she prepared to visit her son, less than 24 hours after closing a decades-long chapter at Hillcrest Elementary — first as a student, then as a teacher for 39 years.

Hillcrest, referred to by Jewell as her “little home,” concluded its school year with a half day Thursday before construction crews begin a summer of additions to the school. Jewell’s day was busy, much of it spent watching the fifth-grade talent show and capped by a few tearful hugs goodbye.

The school she leaves behind won’t look the same after summer’s renovations, Jewell said. Then again, her four decades there as a teacher saw a slew of little changes almost every year.

When Jewell was a student, from 1958 to 1965, Hillcrest was on what was then considered the edge of town. Iowa Street was just two lanes and not much else existed west of the school, she said.

As a teacher, Jewell witnessed the expansion of the school’s ESL population as more children of visiting Kansas University professors filtered through. They came in waves: an influx of Russians one year, a spike in Middle Eastern children another. She said one reason she thinks she stayed as long as she did was, in lieu of making a big career change, she experienced the smaller changes every year.

One year, she struggled to read the work of a native Spanish speaker who would “write and write and write.” One day, Jewell had an epiphany, noticing the girl was writing in phonetic English using a Spanish accent.

“It was like the Rosetta Stone,” Jewell said of her moment of realization.

Another year, back when it was thought that Michelangelo painted the Sistine Chapel while on his back, she had her students lay under their desks and sketch.

Jewell taught fifth grade, then sixth, then a combination of the two one year. She taught second and fourth grade for a few years before concluding her career as a reading and math teacher.

She told a co-worker the other day that her first plan, when she and her husband of 32 years, Jim, return home, was to sleep for a very long time before “de-cluttering” her home. Beyond that, she said, she hasn’t planned. She teaches fitness classes at Body Boutique but isn’t sure if she’ll pursue a second career.

“I’m going to just kind of be for awhile,” she said.