BOUNTIFUL, Utah — What could be better than a bobcat from Bountiful Elementary?
Since 1950, Bountiful Elementary has created a space where students can learn and grow, which is why they're our Cool School of the Week.
"We're a family here. We work really hard to take care of kids, everybody here is super dedicated, and I just love this place," said Mrs. Z, who started at the school as a student teacher 30 years ago.
Bountiful Elementary has a diverse student population, with many students having different needs, which is why first-grade teacher Mrs. King created the Newcomer Program.
"We came up with the Newcomer Program to have them, when they come new to our school, to have them come and meet and have a class where they learn survival English," she said.
The school is home to some of the best and brightest in the Davis School District. They have a unique library where students can increase their literacy skills while hanging out with a homemade vintage bobcat, a castle, a knight, and the incredible librarians!
"Literacy is a big deal here. We try to serve our students the best that we can to ensure they become the best readers and writers," said literacy coach Nicole Wright.
We love getting Cool School nominations from our FOX 13 News viewers. The person who sent in the nomination for Bountiful Elementary highlighted school counselor Kari Harrison, who was the recipient of the district's 2025 Heidi Martin Award. Kari does incredible things at the school, including leading "The Rack," a space in the school that has tons of donated clothing for students in need to get for free.
"We've had families come to our school with nothing but the clothes on their backs," Harrison said. "We started this out of a necessity just to help the families that are coming to our school."
There are decades of memories in these halls, but at the end of this school year, Bountiful Elementary will be moving into a beautiful new building. Although staff are excited to no longer deal with the quirks of an older building, it is bittersweet to say goodbye.
"There's several newspaper articles saying children will learn in modern classrooms, but then they had blackboards. They didn't know we'd need smartboards," said Linda Pearson.
To say goodbye, the school is hosting a family and alumni open house on May 16th from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., where community members can relive old memories and maybe even take a piece of the school home.
At the end of the morning, Granite Credit Union surprised Mrs. King with a donation to help with her Newcomers Program.
"Mrs. King, we want to recognize all the work you're doing for these amazing kids," said Spencer Carver, Marketing Director for Granite Credit Union.
"We're just always trying to evolve to meet the needs of our students. Every year we get a new challenge, and so just some money to help us be creative and keep changing to meet their needs," said Mrs. King.
If you know a cool school, you can send nominations to GoodDayUtah@Fox13Now.com or fill out the nomination form on our website.
