Since fall 1965, Bella Vista Elementary has been a cornerstone of Cottonwood Heights community — a place where friendships were formed, traditions were built and generations of students proudly called themselves Tigers.

As Bella Vista prepares to close at the end of the school year and most of its students transition to nearby Ridgecrest Elementary, the community is invited to return to celebrate the school’s legacy.

In partnership with the PTA, Bella Vista will host a Memory Night from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Monday, May 4. Current and former students, families, faculty, administrators and neighbors are invited to walk the halls, reconnect with friends and reflect on the impact the school has had over the decades.

Friends of Bella Vista are invited to contribute to the evening by sharing memories and stories through a dedicated online form. Organizers also encourage alumni, and current and former staff and families, to bring yearbooks, photographs, and other memorabilia to temporarily display during the event.

The evening also will feature memorabilia stations, opportunities to flip through yearbooks and photographs and revisit their favorite classrooms. Organizers are planning a Bella Vista commemorative pin for current and former students and employee visitors.

Principal Barbra Winder said the open house is designed to be simple and heartfelt.

“The hope is to reach anyone with a connection to Bella Vista,” she said. “We think people will want to have time to chat about memories with one another, see old faces, memorabilia and walk through the building,” she said. “Maybe they’ll take pictures in front of their first-grade classroom and their first-grade teacher will return.”

For many former educators, the event will offer a chance to revisit a place that shaped both their careers and lives.

Former principal Sharon Okumura, who led the school from 1995 to 2002, remembers Bella Vista as a welcoming and close-knit community.

“It was my first time being a principal and the Bella Vista community taught me how to be a good leader,” she said. “It’s a wonderful school and the community was fabulous. The parents were involved and grateful and the kids were happy.”

During her time at Bella Vista, Okumura helped launch initiatives that became part of the school’s culture like the balanced literacy library and Meet the Masters art program and continued traditions such as the fun run and school carnival. They even put together a Bella Vista family cookbook, which she still owns.

Back in those days, Bella Vista had an atrium, and Okumura allowed a rabbit to nestle in the ground there. Struggling students could pet the bunny for comfort. Within the school, Jean Massieu School of the Deaf began, sharing the gym and playground spaces.

“It wasn’t there long, but it was great for teaching our students about inclusion,” she said.

When Bella Vista first started getting Land Trust money, adding computers were one of the first priorities.

“We got our computers all upgraded, which was great, but our infrastructure was not great,” she said. “So we got new computers in, Bella Vista browned out the community that day, we were sucking too much energy.”

Okumura was there during defining moments in history such as 9/11 and when Salt Lake hosted the 2002 Winter Olympics.

“The adults were in the library just before students came in and we saw the first twin tower fall down,” she remembered. “We never told the kids. The next day, if they didn't ask, we didn't talk about it. If they asked, we were very sensitive; we don't want to bring fear. These are young kids.”

2002 was a happier memory as Bella Vista embraced an international partnership with a Japanese sister school. Japanese educators and students visited Bella Vista’s classrooms, demonstrated games and shared cultural traditions. 

As athletes trained in nearby Cottonwood Heights Ice Center, students were allowed to watch and even saw 1992 Olympic gold medalist Kristi Yamaguchi skate. And one student even helped Coca-Cola design their Olympic trading pin and got $5,000 for the school. 

Okumura married while serving as the school’s principal. She brought around cake to every student and staff member and helped them pronounce her new surname. When she had her two daughters, they became part of the school’s story as well.

“Our oldest daughter was nicknamed ‘Bella Vista baby’ as she was often at the school events,” she said. “When the second daughter came, our family dressed as cats and led the Halloween parade.”

Halloween parades were memorable for former educator Howard Griffith, who started his career in education at Bella Vista.

A week before his first Halloween at the school, Griffith faked an injury and convinced his students he’d miss the holiday because of an upcoming surgery. Instead, he arrived and paraded in the Halloween festivities disguised as an elderly woman.

“It was kind of like a Mrs. Doubtfire thing,” he said. “Nobody had any idea until the end of the day when I took off the wig.”

Another fun time was when Griffith would join his students at recess and make huge targets on the school yard fence.

“They were like dart boards with numbers and we would go out there and do math equations and throw snowballs at the answers on the fence,” he said. “Other teachers would say, you’re not supposed to throw snowballs, but I said, we’re doing math, so we did it.”

Griffith enjoyed the kids, but at one point he stepped in for Okumura during her maternity leave, as he was studying to become an administrator.

“For the time she was out having her baby, I was acting principal, which gave me a ton of experience,” Griffith said. “But I always hated getting a sub, because I feared the kids would like to sub better than me. So, I checked in on them often when I was subbing as principal.”

Beyond the fun, Griffith remembers Bella Vista as a school where teachers and students shared strong relationships.

“Everybody was tight knit,” he said. “There always was a sense of community.”

After his time at Bella Vista, Griffith went on to be the principal at several schools.

For Winder, those memories are what Memory Night is meant to celebrate. While the event will be a joyful reunion, she acknowledges it comes during an emotional transition for many families and staff.

“Closing is such a gut punch. I’m sad; it’s heartbreaking,” she said. “At the same time, it’s exciting to think about what is around the corner that we have no idea. We may meet our best friend next year and we get to meet new Tigers. I’m hoping people come to celebrate the school, the people and memories that made Bella Vista feel like home.”