The Art Literacy Program at Bonny Slope is a supplemental district-wide art education program coordinated and administered by school volunteers in collaboration with classroom teachers. The mission is to provide the tools for our students to increase awareness and appreciation of artists, art, its history, and how it enriches our lives.

Studies show that children demonstrate increased abilities in critical thinking, problem solving, and creativity as a result of participating in a strong art education program. It is important to reach children at a young age to incorporate a lifelong appreciation of the visual world they inhabit.

Art Literacy is an on-going, year-long program. Each class is given a pre-designed lesson about an artist, with historical context, and includes an art project. These lessons are presented by Art Literacy Classroom Volunteers. Find out more information here!

The BSCO occasionally hosts an Artist in Residence at Bonny Slope. Each residency places a professional, practicing artist at our school to engage with every student. The program emphasizes in-depth involvement in the arts and focuses on the creative process of making art. The artists work intensely with students, acting as mentors, facilitators, and technical advisors. Their presence in our community is a catalyst for learning and fosters greater awareness of the role the artist and the arts in our society play.

Past Artist in Residency projects have included photography, fused glass, pottery, puppet making, a mosaic mural and cyanotype silhouettes.

The Bonny Slope Community Garden is an outdoor classroom for students & teachers. It's beautiful and dynamic setting integrates hands-on, grade-appropriate education in math, science, social & environmental studies, language & arts. The garden is a platform for wellness, creating a positive attitude toward healthy living, while also creating an awareness of & sense of belonging in the community.

The Cultural Enrichment committee creates programs that expose students to different cultures, but that's not the only thing we do. We try to "sprinkle" cultural awareness in existing activities that are already occurring at Bonny Slope by partnering with other committees. Let us know if you would like to share your time or skills to create more inclusive Bonny Slope Community!

The mission of the BSCO Earth Sustainability Team (BEST) is to create a safer, healthier school environment by promoting sustainable practices and healthy nutrition. Volunteers have historically accomplished this through organizing school wide events such as International Walk to School Day in October, Halloween Candy Take Back in November, Catalog Canceling Challenge in February, Earth Week in April, and the Walk and Bike to School Challenge in May. Additionally, Earth Sustainability volunteers maintain Bonny Slope's Oregon Green School certification and work with other BSCO committees to encourage sustainable practices such as waste-reduction, use of earth-friendly paper-ware, and healthier food options. At Bonny Slope, we aim to inspire a greater awareness of our relationship with, and impact on, the Earth for our students, families and staff.

Fifth grade, the final year at Bonny Slope, is a special year for our oldest students. Several programs and events are designed to help commemorate and celebrate the achievements of the departing class. Some of these activities include: pancake breakfast, Science School, a class gift to Bonny Slope Community, field games with parents, pie eating contest, send off party, and more!

Students have the opportunity to explore the world through our Geography Club. This is an individualized, sequential geography program designed to help students learn some or all of the world’s countries over the course of a school year. Each student chooses an individual level of study to work on at home, at school they receive a passport to track their progress through the year. Students earn stickers, recognition, and prizes for completing levels. The idea is to make learning fun!

Geography Club Materials

• General Packet of Information

• K – 5th Grade Monthly Maps

• Grade 3-5 have optional monthly challenges!

Get the full details and check dates here!

View and print your maps here!

The Basics About OBOB

OBOB is a fun reading incentive program and trivia competition. Traditionally offered statewide, OBOB’s mission is to encourage and recognize students who enjoy reading, to broaden reading interests, to increase reading comprehension, promote academic excellence, and to promote cooperative learning and teamwork among students. At Bonny Slope, 3rd, 4th and 5th grade students read books from a predetermined list and “battle” against other teams by answering trivia questions about the books. Parents can register their child for OBOB here: https://www.bonnyslopebsco.org/obob

OBOB is sponsored by the Bonny Slope Community Organization and is organized by parent volunteers. Questions can be directed to obob@bonnyslopebsco.org.

To enhance the science curriculum at Bonny Slope, the BSCO works with each classroom teacher to bring third party science learning experiences into their classrooms twice a year. In addition, the BSCO pays for materials used in scientific exploration. We currently offer a variety of lessons by OMSI, the Audubon Society of Portland, Mad Science and the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum. Science School (5th Grade) and Science Night are also a part of the Science Curriculum.

Science Night is an annual family-friendly BSCO event held at Bonny Slope Elementary. An incredible feature of Science Night is the students' science and engineering projects on display, however, students do not need to have a science project to attend. In fact, there is a lot of hands-on science fun for families to explore. The Bonny Slope Science Night promotes science in a fun, non-competitive atmosphere where every participant is a winner. Students can choose to do experiments or presentations.

At the event, the young scientists present and discuss their projects with volunteer reviewers and receive positive feedback. The community is invited to view student projects, participate in hands-on experiments and exhibits, and have lots of fun!