Academic success is within your reach
We take an entirely different approach to education because we know students can access their potential when they feel safe, seen, and included.
We meet each student where they are socially, emotionally, and academically
Riverside School takes an entirely different approach to education than a traditional middle and high school. Each of our students joins us because their academic and social/emotional success have been hampered by their mental health and their school’s ability to support it.
Here, we know our students can access their scholastic potential when they feel safe, seen, and included. Whether recovering from trauma or coping with severe anxiety, depression, gender identity and other diagnoses, with the right scaffolding in place and a personalized approach to learning, we change how students view their education while feeling valued by their school community.
Riverside School students thrive thanks to:
Small, welcoming classrooms
Our classrooms are small, purposefully. With a student-teacher ratio of 4:1, we foster a safe, intimate environment that affords both collaborative learning and independent work as students pursue their academic goals. Here, they immediately become part of a calm, supportive community where each member is free to discover their identity and their voice. In the classroom, students feel comfortable getting help when they’re unsure or overwhelmed and are encouraged to seek new challenges when they’re ready. We meet every teen exactly where they are as they find their confidence and realize their potential.
Personalized learning
Our teachers and staff follow an innovative model that skillfully blends support, therapy, and academics through guided, independent learning. While aligned with Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks, our academic model is learner-focused and designed around each student’s individual interests, strengths, and needs. The academic rigor is set at a pace that matches their learning style and challenges them appropriately. Our dedicated teachers support each student the way they learn best — maintaining a sustainable and successful progression and sense of accomplishment.
Our teaching methods and curriculum are customized for each student. We utilize their IEPs (and coordinate with their IEP teams) to design a curriculum that helps them achieve and often surpass their academic goals and earn their high school diploma.
Full days, year-round
Riverside School is in session year-round. We know kids struggling with their mental health need community, connection, and continuity, and that’s nearly impossible when they’re home for the summer. We follow a twelve-month academic calendar and have five vacation weeks throughout the year. On a daily basis, our students enjoy full days that encompass academic courses, therapeutic sessions, physical education, skill development, and fun.
Teachers and clinicians, working together
Our caring, skilled teachers and clinicians work in small, supportive settings where students learn to trust and feel comfortable enough to take chances and be themselves. Students, clinicians, teachers, and families form solid and lasting connections — creating an atmosphere that is nurturing, highly motivating, and, most importantly, successful.
Course credit and graduation readiness
Riverside School students receive academic and enrichment credit for Riverside courses. This way, whether the plan is to complete their high school career here or to return to their referring public school, they’ll be right on track. Students who graduate from Riverside School receive a diploma and transcript from their referring public high school. For those who choose to fulfill their graduation requirements at Riverside School, we help prepare them for college and other post-secondary success through life skills group work, college application support, and vocational training introductions, as appropriate.
“Riverside School has helped me learn how I learn best, and that the way in which I learn does not have to be the same as everyone else.”
– Catie