The Growler

• Veterans Day Assembly
• School Transformation Town Halls
• Winter Music Program- Save the Date
• Green Thumb Club-Thank you!
• Bellview Carnival-Thank you!
• Oregon Battle of the Books
• Family Science Night Re-scheduled
• Bellview PTO: Running Club, Spirit Wear, Meetings
• Family Calendar 2026-27
• Volunteering at School
• Free Breakfast & Lunch for all

Next Tuesday (November 10th) we will be having a Veterans Day assembly to help students understand why we celebrate Veterans Day, and the significance of keeping it on the same date: 11/11. This is our only National Holiday that does not move to a Monday or Friday, and we always have that day off.

If your student has a connection to a Veteran, please consider helping them make a poster for Bellview's Wall of Fame to create a more concrete connection to someone special in their life. If you or a family member is a Veteran, please consider yourself invited to our assembly, where we can thank you for your service. We will begin at 12:15 in the gym.

The poster template is below. In the blank space, you can attach a picture of your Veteran, or have your student draw one. Feel free to make as many posters as is appropriate for your family :)

As you are probably aware, our school district has been going through a transformation process to bring our district's budget in line with our declining enrollment, and envision what is possible when we reimagine what education could look like in the Ashland School District moving forward.

Last year, significant budget cuts were made, and beginning last spring, a community Transformation Steering Committee was formed made up of parents, staff, and community members to begin analyzing district data and planning for change that will result in an improved, stable, educational experience for students K-12. This month, the Transformation Committee made a recommendation to the Superintendent for a school structure after examining many different possibilities.

Monday, November 16th, District employees will be learning about the Transformation proposal. Followig the staff presentations, there will be a Transformation video posted, as well as some documents explaining the steps that the committee went through before coming to the recommendation. You will have the opportunity to examine those on the District website's Transformation page here in advance of the Town Halls.

The next day, the first of three Town Halls will be held to get community feedback on the plan. Here are the dates, times and locations for the Town Halls:

• 6 PM November 17 - Ashland High School Theater

• 6 PM November 18 - Ashland Middle School Commons

• 6 PM November 23 -Ashland High School Theater

Our annual Winter Sings holiday concert will be on Tuesday, December 15 at 1:45pm. Join us as all of Bellview sings in the holiday season with classic favorites and new gems. Plan to arrive early, as the room fills up quickly. Dr. Harris will be sending out links to the music in the December Growler for some last minute practice.

Dr. Harris is looking for a few more keyboards for the music classroom. Anyone with a 61 key electric keyboard (count the black and white keys) in decent shape and is interested in donating it, please email him at David.harris@ashland.k12.or.us, or drop it off with Mrs. Meg in the office.

The last meeting of the Green Thumb Club for this season will be after school on November 17th. In October we received a grant from the Xerces Habitat Project that provided us with plants to start our own Pollinator garden. The Green Thumb Club, under the leadership of Amy Gygax and Ashleigh Cropper, got the plants in the ground so they will be ready to attract local pollinators by spring! They also grew pumpkins that they were able to share with classrooms. The Green Thumb Club will resume again in the spring.

This year marked the 85th year of the Bellview Halloween Carnival! A huge thank you to our PTO, especially Robyn Ray, Susie Goetz and Kari Robertson for organizing the event. Special shoutout to past Haunted House chairs who came to help our new crew create one of best haunted houses yet! Thank you to all of the parents and past students who staffed all the booths and activities, as well as set up and tear down to make this community event special.

Start getting ready to read! OBOB is going to get started at Bellview during the month of October. OBOB is a state-wide competition. Teams collectively read 16 books, then compete by answering trivia questions about the books.

Bellview will hold their OBOB battles Feb 16, 17 and final on the 18th. The winning team will advance to the regionals battle. If your child loves reading or is interested in trying some new books, we encourage them to join OBOB!

We also need parent volunteers to coach teams! Reach out to Annie Funk if interested in coaching or volunteering (annie.funk09@gmail.com). OBOB registration is open to all 3-5th graders.

Family Science Night, tentatively scheduled for next week, will be re-scheduled for some time in February or March. More information to come!

Bellview is hosting another track lap competition! This is a grade vs. grade competition (ex: 4th homeroom vs. 4th homeroom, etc). The class with the most laps (per grade category) wins a milk and cookies pajama party!

Laps will be tracked during Tuesday and Thursday mornings, 8:00am - 8:15am (weather permitting!). For those who can't make it in the morning, there will be 1 recess per week offered to record laps made on the track, so everyone has the opportunity to record laps for their class!

November Track Lap Competition
Schedule for ALL Grades (weather permitting, no rain)

Tuesdays and Thursdays (8:00am - 8:15am)
PLUS!
Wednesday, Nov. 4th (morning recess)
Monday, Nov. 9th (morning recess)
Wednesday, Nov. 18th (morning recess)

A Note for the Grown Ups
The quantity of cookies will be an appropriate amount per age group (for example, kinders receives 1 cookie, grades 2/3 receive 2 cookies, grades 4/5 receive 3 cookies, of a modest size). The prize is about providing a purpose to be active, and the 'party' is more about sharing a moment of victory together.

Go, Bobcats, Go!

**This program will meet as scheduled, subject to weather conditions (i.e. no rain, no snow).

The Running Club will continue after the Jog-A-Thon until November 24th, take a short winter break, and then start back up in March 2027.

Bellview is very fortunate to have an active and supportive Parent Teacher Organization! There is no fee to join and if you are a Bellview parent or guardian you are already a member! They meet several times a year in the Library at school to make plans for fun events and fundraisers. Please consider joining us!

PTO Meeting dates for 2026-27 information:

Time: 6:30 to 7:30 pm for all meetings

Location: Bellview Library, Pizza and Childcare Provided

Dates:

January 7th

February 4th

April 1st

May 6th

PTO Board:

Presidents: Justine Wickard & Ashleigh Cropper

Treasurer: Jeff Nichols

Communications: Robyn Ray Fuentes

Events Coordinator: Brooke Walker

To get the most up to date information from the PTO, please sign up for their communication system FreshSchools here. It is a great resource to stay up to date with PTO and classroom events, and is where you can connect with the directory of other parents for things like play dates.

2026-27 Bellview Family Calendar

Mission Statement: Inspiring future leaders to imagine and

build a better world through thoughtful action and kindness

August

31 First day for grades 1-5, 12:30 dismissal

31 Kinder Orientation

September

1 1st day of Kindergarten, 12:30 Dismissal

1 Yahoo/Boo Hoo Coffee 8:00AM

7 No School, Labor Day

10 PTO Meeting 6:30 @ Bellview Library

23 Back to School BBQ 5-7 PM

25 Jog-a-Thon

October

1 PTO Carnival Meeting 6:30 @ BE Library

9 No School, In-Service Day

12 No School, Indigenous People’s Day

24 Carnival 5-8 PM

28 Costume Walk & Class Parties in PM

29 & 30 No School, Conferences

November

5 PTO Meeting 6:30-7:30

11 No School, Veteran’s Day

23-24 Booksgiving

25-27 No School, Thanksgiving

December

21- Jan. 1 Winter Break

January

7 PTO Meeting 6:30 BE Library

18 No School, Dr. MLK Jr. Day

25 No School, In-service Day

28 Family Literacy Night

February

10 Parties in PM

11 & 12 No School, Conferences

15 No School, President’s Day

24 Talent Show 5:30-7:30

26 No School, In-Service Day

March

1-5 Classified Staff Appreciation

10 Science Fair 5:30-6:30 in the Gym

22-26 Spring Break

29 No School, In-Service Day

April

1 PTO Meeting 6:30 @ Bellview Library

5-9 Book Fair

7 Art Night 6:00-7:00

26 Snow Make up day (no school if we haven’t had a snow day yet)

28 Bingo Night 6:30 @ Bellview Gym

May

3-7 Teacher Appreciation Week

6 PTO Meeting 6:30-7:30

14 4th & 5th District Track Meet

31 No School, Memorial Day

June

9 5:30 5th grade promotion

11 Field Day, Last Day of School 12:30 Dismissal

Requirements:

• All volunteers must complete an application and consent to a background check.

• A copy of your driver’s license or ID card uploaded with the application.

• Certification of Completion for Sexual Misconduct: Staff-to-Student (not PSA) to be uploaded with application.

• Certification of Completion for Child Abuse Mandatory Reporting: Full Course (Oregon Parent) to be uploaded with application.

• Review Volunteer Responsibilities

Step 1:

• Review Volunteer Responsibilities.

Step 2:

• Go to https://ashland-or.safeschools.com/register/6184f8c4

• Sign up & click the green "Register" button

• If you have already created an account, please go to https://ashland-or.safeschools.com/login to log in with your username.

• Complete the course & save the Certifications of Completion (Sexual Misconduct: Staff-to-Student) and Child Abuse Mandatory Reporting: Full Course (Oregon Parent)

• Return to the district website https://www.ashland.k12.or.us/page/volunteer-in-the-schools

• Go to Step 3 and complete the volunteer application.

Step 3:

• Have a digital copy of your driver’s license/ID card & your Certifications of Completion for Sexual Misconduct: Staff-to-Student (not PSA) and Child Abuse Mandatory Reporting: Full Course (Oregon Parent) ready to upload during the volunteer application process.

• For safety, the application cannot be saved and, for this reason, you must complete and submit your application with the required documents at the same time.

• To complete the online volunteer application, click here.

• You must provide a valid email address so you can be notified about the status of your application and future communication. The same email address cannot be used for more than one individual. Don’t have an email address? We suggest you obtain a free email account through Google or Yahoo.

• Background Check: after an application is completed and submitted, the system automatically transfers it to the ASD Human Resources department to be processed. The information you enter must match your driver’s license/ID card, including your full legal name. All information collected on the application will remain confidential and not be shared outside the volunteer program. Once you are cleared, you will receive an email. Please allow at least 2-4 weeks for processing.

Once you have passed your background check, you are cleared to apply to volunteer for any position throughout the school year. No additional background check is needed throughout the current school year; however, it is necessary to repeat this process at every new school year (July 1st-June 30th). You will receive a reminder email notification near the time of renewal.

Step 4:
Mark your calendar with the agreed upon days and times. Please note that certain positions require training and a time commitment. Make sure you can fulfill the volunteer commitments before agreeing to the position.

Be prompt and dependable. Please call ahead if you are ill or unable to keep your appointed times. When you commit to volunteering, people are depending on you.

She, Her

Email: christine.mccollom@ashland.k12.or.us
Website: https://www.ashland.k12.or.us/o/bes
Location: 1070 Tolman Creek Road, Ashland, OR, USA
Phone: 541-482-1310
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Bellview-Elementary-School-104141858437771