Our Philosophy

At Riverbend Community School we want students to feel safe and nurtured at all costs. Our small and inviting classroom environment is designed to nurture students' well-being and academic spirit. We want them to get curious and feel excited about learning, but know they can learn at their pace. We believe deeply in mastery-based teaching, letting kids work on the skills they need until they really "get it." See below for a more in-depth look at the modern classroom approach we use at our school. Our kids can work at their academic level, using tools, assistive technology and strategies that work best for them in order to achieve true mastery of skills.  Our teachers are there to teach concepts as many times, in as many ways as necessary in order for students to make connections and master what they are learning. We place a huge emphasis on literacy and teach using practices that are rooted in the Science of Reading. This includes a systematic phonics program that directly and explicitly teaches children to learn to decode. We also place a huge priority to build children's background knowledge with rich, high-quality, curriculum-focused content from a very early age. This is how we build confident and skillful readers. We believe these kids can achieve great things and we set the bar high. Our mission as their teachers is to guide them toward their personal greatness at all costs.