Mountain View Middle School opened its cafeteria before school for the 2026-27 school year after the Beaverton School District's later start times left students waiting outside without supervision.

The Beaverton Education Foundation (BEF) is piloting the program with funding from the People's Foundation for Better Opportunities (PFFBO), a local nonprofit. Students can arrive early, sit in the cafeteria, do homework and get academic help before the 9:40 a.m. bell.

The pilot grew out of an unintended consequence of the district's 2024 decision to push middle school start times back to 9:40 a.m. for grades 6 through 8.

KATU reported in August 2024 that the district shifted its bell schedule to start the day about an hour later. Bus routes were adjusted to match, but many parents still needed to drop kids off on their old schedule before heading to work.

Mountain View Principal Brian Peerenboom began noticing students showing up 60 to 90 minutes before the building officially opened, according to a BEF grantee story published Monday, Sept. 14. Without staff on duty, those students waited outside in the rain and cold with no adults around.

BEF approached the People's Foundation to find a solution. The education foundation said it is providing funds to open the school early and give students a supervised space for homework and extra academic help before classes begin.

BEF categorizes the effort under its "Emergent Needs" focus area, one of four priorities alongside core academics, skill building and career-connected learning.

The foundation is tracking the pilot's effect on attendance, academics and behavior. No dollar amount for the grant has been disclosed.

Beaverton is the third-largest school district in Oregon and operates nine middle schools. Mountain View, which feeds into Aloha High School and Mountainside High School, enrolled roughly 867 students as of the 2022-23 school year.

Neither BEF nor the district has said how many students are using the early-morning cafeteria or what time it opens.