Kindergarten roundup

Weatherly Oakes reads with her son David Johnson, 5, left, while his 1-year-old sister Maggie Johnson looks on Wednesday at Walker Elementary School during the kindergarten roundup. Orville Hector | Daily Tidings

Parents and excited students crowded kindergarten classrooms and sat in tiny chairs at Bellview, Walker, and Helman schools on Wednesday.

Teachers, principals, and other staff were on hand to answer questions and help complete paperwork.

"We live close to Helman and we know a lot of parents who sent their children here, but we want to look around and find out what is best for our daughter," said one couple in the Helman neighborhood.

At Bellview, teachers answered questions and showed off this year's student work.

"We're studying plants right now," said kindergarten teacher Matthew Fujikawa, pointing to brightly colored containers of sprouts. "The kids love it. We try to do a lot of hands-on work."

Bellview's principal, Christine McCollom, spoke to several parents about the construction of the new Bellview school building. The project will cause kindergarten and first grade classes to be held at Rivergate Church on Garfield and Iowa until the new building is complete.

"We're doing everything we can to make sure students and parents are comfortable," she said.

Bellview will also host an open house later this year at the Rivergate facility so families can become more familiar with it. Some parents are already familiar with the building. It was the former location of Pilot Rock Christian School.

"Some of the kids who went to Pilot Rock as preschoolers are excited to be going back to their old school space," McCollom said.

In addition to getting questions answered and seeing their children's school environment, parents also had time to socialize.

"A good thing about living in Ashland, is that so many of the children and parents already have some sort of relationship," said Mark Loren, who was registering his son for kindergarten. "We know each other from the playground or sports events,"

Kaylynn McPherson was looking at Bellview kindergarten for her twin boys.

"We just moved to Ashland a few weeks ago. One reason we chose Ashland is the great reputation the school's have," she said.

McPherson says she also plans to look at Willow Wind's program.

"There was nothing like Willow Wind when I was growing up," she said. "I love all the options we have in this small community."