From dirt roads to a bustling urban neighborhood, PS 117 in the Jamaica section of Queens has seen its community transform over the school’s 90 years. On June 8, students from the 3rd, 4th and 5th grades joined more than 50 past and present teachers and administrators, as well as former students, to celebrate that history. “It’s important to me to be a part of something so eventful,” said Marci Vasconi, who graduated from PS 117 in 1984 and has taught there for the past 20 years. “It’s 90 years of a school!” The day “was filled with dear memories,” according to Michelle Weiner, the teacher who organized the event. “We remembered loved teachers who are no longer with us, yet they live in the halls of PS 117,” she said. The school’s 90th-anniversary celebration was held in the auditorium and featured a Dancing Through the Decades show, in which students — with choreography help from teachers — explored various dance styles popular during the school’s lifetime. The school choir sang “Hall of Fame,” and a plaque was presented with the names of the nine principals who served the school, with room to add others in the future. Social studies teacher Geoff Hayden discovered photos from the school’s early days and presented them at the event. “I got into the school’s history about 15 years ago,” said Hayden, who’s taught at PS 117 for 22 years. After doing research on the school at the municipal archives, he learned that PS 117 was originally a K-8 school and became a K-6 school in the 1950s when MS 217 was built across the street. Over the years the school grew, Hayden said, expanding its cafeteria and switching from coal to oil heat. “When I first came to the school, I couldn’t believe they burned coal for heat,” Hayden said. “I thought that went out a long time ago.” One mark of the school’s origins persists, however. “I love the gargoyles that adorn the front exterior,” said Hayden. Since the school was built in “the Roaring ‘20s,” he said, “there was plenty of money to spend on something like that.”