Riverdale Country School (RCS)

Founded in 1907, Riverdale is situated on two campuses encompassing 27.5 acres in the Riverdale section of the bronx - the largest campus in new york city. About 80% of the faculty holds advanced degrees. Graduates attend some of the most selective colleges and universities in the Country. Riverdale seeks a diverse population. In 2020, the School had an enrollment of just over 1,200 students; students of color represented 43 percent of that total. Financial assistance, totaling approximately $10.9 million, was awarded to about 20 percent of the student body. Students travel to the School from more than 100 zip codes; about 70% live in manhattan or the bronx with others coming from brooklyn, queens, westchester county, new jersey, and Connecticut. Ongoing partnerships with organizations that identify high-achieving students from underserved communities contribute to a widening applicant pool. Those organizations include riise, oliver scholars, reach prep, early steps, the teak fellowship, and prep for prep. Amid the national reckoning on racial injustice in america, Riverdale has taken several significant steps to address institutional equity and strengthen its anti-racist and anti-bias programs. The School has published the Riverdale statement on campus discourse, explaining skills for engaging in constructive dialog so that members of the community can learn from opposing views in the classroom and out in the world. The School has formed the diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging committee of the board of trustees and named two administrators to review and strengthen the School's commitment to inclusivity and anti-racism. The office of alumni affairs offers bipoc, white anti-racist, and lgbtqia+ affinity groups for Riverdale graduates and hosts webinars featuring alumni who are involved in the fields of public service and social justice and working toward a more equitable society. Since the onset of the covid-19 pandemic in march 2020, Riverdale has redesigned some academic programs and put others on hold because of health protocols, travel restrictions, and social-distancing rules. Visitors have been restricted and campus activities limited to prevent the spread of disease. The School has invested in infrastructure upgrades and technology in order to provide a flexible academic program of in-person, hybrid, and remote learning. Video conferencing tools, such as zoom and google meet, have enabled teachers and students to participate remotely when needed and allowed speakers from across the Country to take part in assemblies and classes without having to travel. Video conferencing enabled bronx public School students in Riverdale's bronx connections enrichment program to join online summer courses offered by the Riverdale faculty at no cost. A summer pilot program with horizons national on zoom gave bronx first graders an opportunity to participate in enrichment activities with Riverdale lower School teachers. A partnership with round square, an international consortium of schools, led to a zoom event hosted by Riverdale and attended by students around the world. The upper School's global studies program offered virtual exchanges with schools in france and spain in lieu of trips to those countries. Riverdale expects to fully resume its programs when local health conditions permit. During the pandemic, Riverdale continued to foster relationships with service organizations in the new york area, especially those serving vulnerable populations. The School donated masks and cleaning supplies to local organizations during initial shortages, and surplus food to community pantries. Students organized virtual celebrations for best buddies and lsa family health services and fundraising projects for part of the solution, city meals on wheels, and Riverdale senior services, among others. The annual Riverdale community action day moved online and enlisted community support for the hunts point alliance for children, part of the solution (pots), hebrew home at Riverdale, and the james j. peters va medical center. Students created videos to thank first responders and front-line workers and to offer emotional support to members of the challenged athletes foundation and the hebrew home. Middle schoolers provided peer tutoring for children associated with pots. The middle School student council continued its relationships with two bronx schools, st. ignatius in hunts point and ps 279.

Riverdale's partnerships include formal relationships with national and international educational organizations that are aligned with the School's character-based education mission as well as groups that offer professional development opportunities for teachers around the world. In order to share this work more effectively and develop a venture-based way to incubate and share ideas more broadly at scale, Riverdale has developed a learning-design studio known as plussed+. This consultancy works with educators nationally and globally to share educational ideas and help other schools develop the capacity to discover and shape their efforts to innovate and improve the learning of all students. Plussed+ has a team of part-time and fully dedicated staff creating various modules based on work at Riverdale and beyond that can be exported to other School settings. International partnerships international positive education network (ipen): head of School dominic a.a. randolph is the global chair. Global online academy: Riverdale is a member of this organization, which is expanding learning opportunities worldwide through online courses. Round square: Riverdale is a member of this international network of schools offering programs to promote character strengths. Lineglobal: head of School dominic a.a. randolph is a member of the board of directors of this organization that promotes exchanges between educators in india and the united states. National partnerships character lab: head of School dominic a.a. randolph is the co-founder of this research organization based at the university of Pennsylvania that supports research into the development of character skills and trains teachers to incorporate evidence into their classroom activities. Mastery transcript consortium: Riverdale is a founding School of this organization that is developing an alternative high School transcript reflecting individual skills, strengths, and interests. University of Pennsylvania graduate School of education teaching fellows: Riverdale is a partner with this fellowship program, which provides an intensive teaching experience to students while they pursue a graduate degree in education. The teachers guild: a non-profit initiative of plussed+ and ideo's design for learning studio, the teachers guild uses design thinking to help teachers find creative solutions to their problems. Enrollment management association: jenna king, associate head of School for admission and enrollment, is on the board of this organization. Character skills snapshot: Riverdale is a founding School of this initiative that is developing an admission tool to identify character strengths and skills. National association of independent schools: Riverdale administrators and faculty are active participants in this organization, leading professional development workshops, attending conferences, and writing for its publications. A delegation of Riverdale faculty and students attends the annual nais people of color conference. Pipeline collaborative: Riverdale is a member of this organization that works with colleges to provide mentoring and professional networks for young teachers of color. National network of schools in partnership: Riverdale is a member of this group that fosters collaboration among independent, public, parochial, and charter schools. Rachel klein, director of service learning, is on the advisory board. Iseen (independent schools experiential education network): Riverdale faculty participate in this partnership of educators who lead programs for outdoor education, service-learning, experiential learning, and character education. Nxu: head of School dominic a.a. randolph is a member of the leadership team of this nonprofit organization that helps high School students explore and develop their purpose. The academy for teachers: Riverdale supports the organization's private schools for public education initiative.