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 2022-23, the School had an enrollment of just over 1,260 students; students of color represented 44 percent of that total. Financial assistance, totaling approximately $10.5 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. Riverdale has a legacy of commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (deib) with continuing significant progress over recent years. 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, coming from the perspective of an ethic of care for all those they engage with. The School has formed the diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging committee of the board of trustees and named two administrators and numerous faculty and staff members to review and strengthen the School's commitment to inclusivity and anti-racism. The diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging efforts on both campuses include several affinity groups for Riverdale students, families, faculty and staff members, as well as programming and professional development to increase institutional equity and support community-building. The office of alumni affairs offers bipoc, white anti-racist, and lgbtqia+ affinity groups for Riverdale graduates and hosts webinars featuring alumni who work toward making a more equitable society, including those in fields of public service and social justice. As recovery from the covid-19 pandemic has continued, campus routines have resumed. Our experiential education program, which includes an extensive outdoor education component, as well as opportunities for student field research has organized several travel/study trips and in-person research opportunities. For example, in the fall, a group of students and faculty participated in the round square conference in england. During our october experiential education week, students from grades 6 through 11 camped, hiked, visited museums, attended broadway shows, and reflected on their learning experiences and how learning off campus augments their learning in the classroom. In lower School, where experiential education is also a foundational element of the curriculum, children explore the woods adjacent to our campus, learn about the life of the hudson river, plant and harvest in both traditional "in-groundhydroponic gardens, conduct waste audits to better understand sustainability practices, and write and perform their own plays based on their classroom learning. During the last year, students and families in grade 5 traveled with faculty leaders to costa rica to experience and reflect on that environment, and to the princeton blairstown center for community and team building activities. Additional international and domestic trips are planned for all ages in the coming months. During the summer months, Riverdale fields three signature programs taught by Riverdale faculty: project knowmad, which uses our location in new york city as part of the curriculum for a variety of enrichment courses for both Riverdale and non-riverdale students; Riverdale horizons, in conjunction horizons national, which hosts bronx public School students on our river campus for engaging courses in stem, arts, and humanities; and a summer research program which provides upper School students with opportunities to engage with local labs, archives, museums, and institutions in primary research. Riverdale Country School's service learning department has continued to foster and deepen relationships with local non-profit organizations in the new york city area. We have maintained multiple partnerships with community organizations throughout the pandemic and beyond. The annual Riverdale community action day (rcad) was held in person for the first time in three years. Rcad, an annual event organized by Riverdale alumni in celebration and support of local community partnerships, supported long-standing partners.

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.