An 84-year-old Haddonfield High home economics teacher is retiring. No one will take her place.

Growing up in the 1950s, Arleen Iavicoli set her sights on becoming a doctor. But that was frowned upon as a suitable career choice for a young woman.

Instead, Iavicoli decided to become a teacher, and she loved it. She found her niche teaching culinary arts and life skills at Haddonfield Memorial High School for more than two decades.

A popular and beloved educator, Iavicoli, 84, is retiring at the end of the school year. She has no plans to sit idly at home and plans to embark on a new venture to keep busy.

“I love what I do and I’m good at what I do,” she said in an interview last week. “But I thought it was time to move on.”

It is also the end of the road for the family and consumer science program at Haddonfield High, at least for now. Iavicoli’s position will not be filled, as the district faces a budget shortfall, Superintendent Chuck Klaus said.

“It was an extremely difficult decision. I lost sleep over it,” Klaus said in an interview. “She is a treasure.”

Experts say Haddonfield is among a declining number of schools that still offer family and consumer science or home economics programs, partly as a result of budget cuts and greater emphasis on other subject areas, such as STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). There has also been a national shortage of available certified teachers.

“It is an easy target in budget cuts,” said Patricia DiGioia-Laird, state adviser for the New Jersey Family Career and Community Leaders of America. “People making these decisions are only worrying about test scores. It’s not what’s best for kids.”

Once known as home economics classes and focused on cooking and sewing, Haddonfield’s curriculum shifted in recent years into a “21st-century life and careers” program that includes nutrition, financial wellness, technology, graphic design, and business courses.

Iavicoli teaches food nutrition and American and international cuisine five periods a day to ninth through 12th graders. She particularly loves food lab day, held twice a week when students follow a block schedule and each period runs 80 minutes instead of 43 minutes.

On a recent morning, she welcomed a class, greeting them fondly with “Oh, my darlings, how are you today?” She knows something personal about every student, commenting that one girl had changed her hair color.

“She just adds such a great presence to the school,” said principal Tammy McHale. “Her enthusiasm and energy doesn’t dim.”

The students affectionately refer to her as “Miss I.” Though she is petite in stature (she reluctantly admits that she is 4 feet, 11 inches tall), her big personality commands attention — and hugs from her students who bend down to embrace her.

“She’s my Italian grandmother,” said Vivian Hoff, 18, a senior. “Miss I is the GOAT.”

For a unit on Germany, the class learned how to make Bavarian pretzels, a soft, doughy, and chewy version known for its twisted shape and crisp dark brown crust. They previously made French onion soup, gyros, king cake, apple galette, and a French tart.

The students worked in teams at tables set up in the room lined with ovens and counter space. Each team mixed ingredients following Iavicoli’s instructions. She walked around, carefully checking their progress.

“This has been an amazing experience,” said Angie Giorgio, 15, a freshman. “You make so many friends.”

One team had to make an adjustment after a student miscalculated the amount of water to add.

“It looked like flour soup,” Iavicoli joked.

Iavicoli spends thousands of dollars shopping once a week for groceries for the class. She bargain shops, but occasionally runs out of ingredients and must replenish supplies to cover the classes.

Students say the courses have taught them more than cooking. They learn social skills, team building, and life lessons that will help when they go to college. After cooking, they must clean up their workspaces and wipe down the counters and stovetops, which Iavicoli carefully inspects.

“She has the patience of a saint. She’s just fabulous,” said Deborah Borum, a teaching assistant assigned to her class.

The class offers a welcome respite from a rigorous academic schedule, students say. Two students rushed from her class to take an AP psychology exam.

“It’s kind of like a breather,” Giorgio said.

Added Hoff: “When else do you cook with your friends? It’s fun.”

Next year, students will have the option to take other electives, such as digital design and music recording, to fulfill the 21st-century life requirement. Klaus hopes the culinary class will eventually be reinstated.

“It’s going to be so different,” said Nora Lazarova, 14. “It’s not going to be the same.”

Iavicoli grew up in a working-class family in Haverford, the oldest of three siblings. She said her guidance counselors discouraged her from pursuing medicine when she graduated from high school in 1962, so she obtained a liberal arts degree from Drexel University.

While in college, she met Mario Iavicoli, an engineering student turned lawyer, and the two married in 1963. The couple had three daughters; two became doctors, fulfilling their mother’s childhood dream.

Iavicoli began her teaching career as a substitute teacher and landed her first teaching position at Deptford High. Her siblings also became teachers.

The family settled in Haddonfield and her husband became the borough solicitor. She took a break from teaching to raise her children but eventually returned to the classroom. She now has nine grandchildren.

Iavicoli said she would miss teaching and her students — even the pranksters who once hid a batch of eggs in the smoke detector and the clumsy student who accidentally torched a paper towel.

“Every day I look forward to coming here,” she said, choking back tears. “I think I’m going to lose my mind if I don’t work.”