It's hard to keep a secret in elementary school. As Roger Brooks neared his final days as principal of Beaver Meadow School, there were signs of something afoot. It was in the suggestions that he arrive late for each staff meeting. It was in the local newspaper that went missing last week.

And it was hard to miss in the daily children's whispers of, "I can't talk to you Dr. Brooks," and, "I bet you can't wait till June 8th."

Syllabi fell to the wayside yesterday as the Beaver Meadow community celebrated the retirement of the only principal it has ever known.

Students assembled early to hear that yesterday was an official "Roger Brooks Day" in Concord and throughout New Hampshire, though the applause they gave the mayor and governor didn't compare with the screaming ovation reserved for Brooks.

The day centered on Brooks's long devotion to the arts in education, as artists led student workshops in Irish song and dance, African drumming, theater, fairy house making and more.

The drumming continued outside that afternoon as about 400 students approached Brooks one-by-one for a hug. The school's new low-set jungle gym, sandpit with ramped entrance and slide built into a

hill was then dedicated as Brooks Meadow: A Playground for Everybody.

Morning presenters shared pictures that students had drawn of Brooks, along with their ideas for his retirement. Among them were bodybuilding, driving an ice cream truck, raising cats, running for president and not retiring.

Brooks began his career with the Peace Corps in Malaysia, where he worked as an elementary school supervisor bringing lesson plans from school to school in the jungle. There he met his wife, Carol Brooks, who was teaching high school biology in a village.

(At the school year's end, the two will travel to visit their older son at his Peace Corps site in Ukraine.)

Brooks's 35 years with the Concord School District began at the now-closed Millville School, where he taught a classroom of 28 students ranging from first grade to fourth grade. Two years later, he became the head teacher - a position that landed him the responsibilities of a principal for a $300 salary boost, he recalled. He then became principal of the Garrison School and worked there until Beaver Meadow opened in March 1987.

A number of teachers remember that first day, when Brooks led students down North State Street from the old school to the new.

Brooks said he realized the possibilities of art in the classroom early on when an artist's visit brought out unexpected talents in his students. It was a lesson he brought with him through years of hosting artists-in-residence, sitting on the boards of arts organizations and encouraging arts education throughout the state.

"Every educator needs to tell the parents and the child how they can be proud of things they did," he said. "We need to provide peak experiences for children they'll remember forever."

Marie Harris, a poet from Barrington, first worked with Brooks as an artist-in-residence at the Garrison School. She said she was one of many writers, musicians and actors who worked to instill an appreciation of the arts.

"The arts were, as far as he was concerned, as important as reading and writing and breathing," she said. "We were not an afterthought."

Longtime teachers said yesterday that appreciation for creativity at Beaver Meadow extends beyond the arts themselves. Fourth-grade teacher Susan Robichaud taught during the last year at Garrison and made the walk to Beaver Meadow with Brooks. She said his confidence in teachers has allowed them to try new approaches in the classroom.

"I think he sees us all as artists," she said. "He truly sees the beauty of everyone as an individual, and he encourages us to use our strengths to be very good teachers."

Even when that means a bit of a mess, said kindergarten teacher Chris LeBrun, who helped organize yesterday's fete. She recalled a time when an indoor beach day led to pool water leaking into the school library. "No problem, just clean it up," she recalled him saying.

Kids ran yesterday to hug Brooks and compliment his bold-colored necktie, but LeBrun said their respect for him makes for a useful call to order.

"We'll say, 'It's Dr. Brooks's rule that you have to stand in line,' " she said. "We just say that, and they perk right up."

Teachers said they expect to see Brooks in the community and back for school visits and theater productions. Beaver Meadow will get its second principal this summer, when John Forrest arrives from Bristol Elementary School.