News

Riverhill School has a proud tradition of excellence in Late Elementary education. From an accelerated curriculum to a safe school environment to a nurturing staff, Riverhill excels in all areas for fourth, fifth, and sixth grade students. Students are challenged to set high goals and to work work hard to achieve those goals while still retaining their individuality and their creativity.

Our fourth, fifth, and sixth grade classes are small which allows Riverhill students to develop their leadership skills to the fullest. The curriculum is challenging and includes Robotics and Engineering, Foreign Language, Art and Music, Science Lab, Computer Lab, and so much more! Riverhill teachers are top-notch and truly care about their students on an individual basis while challenging them to attain their fullest potential in academic excellence.

Since Riverhill serves students only through grade six, our sixth graders choose to attend seventh grade at a variety of schools. However, one thing remains constant: Riverhill sixth graders invariably rise to the top as seventh graders–in academics and in leadership! Our students leave Riverhill with the confidence, the self-assurance, and the knowledge to succeed in whatever endeavor they choose next.

Mary Jane Fowler
Riverhill Principal

Riverhill School is accredited through AdvancED, an umbrella organization that includes SACS, AISA, and numerous other accrediting agencies. AdvancED covers over 32,000 public and independent institutions in over 70 countries and involves 20 million students. Schools are required to go through a re-accreditation process every five years. This process includes a visit from an External Review Team that spends several days on campus interviewing stakeholders and investigating the educational practices of the school. Five main areas are explored: Purpose and Direction; Governance and Leadership; Teaching and Assessing for Learning; Resources and Support Systems; and Continuous Improvement.

Riverhill recently completed this rigorous re-accreditation process. The scores for Riverhill School are listed below. Please note Riverhill’s scores as compared to the scores of ALL the schools (public and independent) that completed this process during the last school year. We are extremely proud of Riverhill School!

Index of Education Quality for Riverhill School

	Riverhill	Average from other AE Schools
Teaching and Learning	338	268
Leadership Capacity	336	292
Resource Utilization	328	283
OVERALL SCORE	335	278

 

In addition, each school being evaluated is normally given three Continuous Improvement requirements that must be met within two years of the External Review Team’s visit. RIVERHILL WAS GIVEN ZERO REQUIREMENTS FOR IMPROVEMENT!!!! That has never happened at Riverhill, and I don’t think it happens very frequently at any school! Great accomplishment!!

I am extremely proud of our staff, our students, our parents, and all our stakeholders! Riverhill is a wonderful place and this fact has, once again, been validated by a team of outside experts!

Mary Jane Fowler
Principal

We are excited to announce the addition of Robotics/Engineering classes to Riverhill’s curriculum! The class is taught in Pre K3 through Sixth Grade. Pre K3 through second grade students spend thirty minutes each week focusing on various projects while third grade through sixth grade students work as teams for forty-five minutes each week. Working together as a team is a wonderful learning experience for the students; in fact, teamwork is an important social skill that lends itself perfectly to the projects included in Robotics and Engineering. Thus far, Riverhill students have programmed S2 robots to draw circles, squares, and the letter “L”. The S2 robot projects include a programming component where students learn to drag tiles into a grid which in turn tells the robot what behaviors to perform. The students are also learning about simple machines through Lego Education Kits; they have built a tower crane, a race car, dancing ducks, and hungry alligators using gears, pulleys, wheels, and axles. The sixth grade students are working on a long-term project: building and programming a VEX IQ robot. The build alone took seven weeks; now the students are ready to install EasyC software and program the robots. The culmination of this project will come in April, 2016, at the First Robotics and Engineering Day at Riverhill School. We are pleased and excited by the way our students have responded to this new area of learning. We plan to continue expanding the Robotics/Engineering activities offered at Riverhill through private and grant funding. We look forward to being a model elementary school for Robotics and Engineering in the Florence area.

Allison Delbert
Riverhill STEM Teacher

Communication is one of the most critically important aspects of any relationship. A breakdown in communication can cause any number of crises from minor to more severe. The parent/teacher relationship is unique in that it requires a great deal of two-way communication to effectively educate each child. The Riverhill staff adopted the word “communicate” as a buzzword for the year; we recognize the importance of good communication skills.

At Riverhill School, we use numerous tools to get the word out about all the exciting things happening at this great place. We utilize our website, our weekly newsletter, the Riverhill Florence Facebook page, Twitter, and Instagram. We also use automated Parent Alerts (voice and text) that are sent to the Riverhill Family via phone. All teachers at Riverhill can be contacted via email and even use their personal cell phones to aid in good communication practices with parents.

The above-mentioned methods of communication are frequently updated to ensure messages are clear, up-to-date, and accurate. There are few opportunities to “miss out” on something that is going on at Riverhill School! With that in mind, please note the following Four Things Teachers Wish Parents Knew about Communication at Riverhill.

• Read the Bear Facts. Mrs. Delbert does a tremendous job creating a concise and informative summary of the “happenings” at Riverhill. In addition, pictures are included that capture our week and they are always delightful.

 

• Communication requires TWO. We want to hear from you! Please be assured parent communication to teachers is read and carefully processed. However, please also remember that communication sent to parents does its job ONLY if parents read and process it!

 

• Teachers do not use instruction time to make parent contacts. While teachers are teaching, phones are used for internal emergency communication only. If a parent has an emergency concerning a student, please contact our AMAZING front office and they will get the message to teachers. Furthermore, teachers will be diligent to check messages and respond during a time when students are not in the classroom.

 

• Encourage your children to be good communicators. Please encourage them to ask questions. Students are always encouraged to share at appropriate times in class. Also, please share the Bear Facts with them! Even though the Bear Facts is designed as a communication tool between staff and parents, the information in the Bear Facts is for and/or about the students!

Shanna Akery, 6th Grade Teacher

Before becoming Riverhill’s Principal, I taught Kindergarten at this special school for fourteen years. As concerned as I was about “leaving” the classroom, I have been pleasantly surprised to find I simply have a larger classroom with 140 students instead of 24! Each day at Riverhill is filled with excitement about learning, excitement about friends and family, and excitement about helping others. Some days I have to admit I do miss being in the classroom; however, all I have to do is walk down one of our hallways, stick my head in any door, and enjoy the unique atmosphere of learning!

We are extremely proud to have been named a 2014-2015 AISA Blue Ribbon School for the third year in a row. AISA Blue Ribbon status can only be attained for one school year at a time and is awarded only to schools that exemplify excellence in teaching, student performance, school life, and school and community interaction. To receive this distinction, Riverhill had to meet and/or exceed a stringent list of prescribed criteria.

The Riverhill Family is eagerly anticipating the Second Annual Riverhill EXPO! This year’s event will be Saturday, May 9, and promises to be every bit as enjoyable as last year; Genevieve Gorder, HGTV personality, will be our special guest. Decorating ideas, gardening tips, numerous vendors, and plenty of delicious food promise to make this a fun and entertaining day!

It is a distinct privilege to serve as Principal of this wonderful place called Riverhill School!

Mary Jane Fowler