About

Scholarly, Intimate Teaching

Our approach to teaching combines research, experience, and care for each student through a balance of “high challenge/high support” experiences. We know that good teaching occurs at various moments, in multiple environments, is interdisciplinary, and requires support for all learning needs. Along with teaching in our classrooms, labs, studios, theaters, libraries, gardens, playing fields, and gyms, we guide students as they undertake new and sometimes difficult tasks and work independently and in groups. Students develop character strengths, such as empathy and resilience, along with their intellectual skills.

Our tenets of discourse demonstrate to our students that conformity of thought is never an expectation and that engaging with multiple viewpoints and perspectives is essential to scholarly teaching and building critical thinking skills.

• We hold discourse to learn, we learn to hold discourse.
• Diversity needs Difference. Empathy needs Understanding.
• We challenge ideas; we allow ideas to challenge us.
• Discourse is a gift, not a given. We are responsible for what we can achieve together. 
• We believe in Belonging. We use speech that elevates, not escalates.
• We learn to respect all ideas and inspect all ideas.

Holistic Student Support

Support of our students extends beyond focusing on their academic needs. The whole child must be considered so our students can develop a love of learning and connection to the school community. Our holistic approach to academic growth and personal development allows students to thrive and sustain high levels of engagement over time. We support students in our homebase and advisor program, clubs and activities, and discussions designed to strengthen their self and social awareness, ethical decision-making, problem-solving, and overall well-being through academic and co-curricular experiences.

Holistic student support at Riverdale involves each of the following:

• Certified and Registered Nurses on both campuses provide a range of support, from students with medical conditions or allergies to students needing an ice pack after a game of ultimate frisbee during a free period
• Deans help students discover and cultivate both academic and co-curricular interests in partnership with parents/guardians
• A team of mental health professionals who engage with the community in various ways (student counseling sessions, meeting regularly with deans to support students, educating faculty about best practices, and hosting parent/guardian programming)
• Members of the Learning Resource Team (LRT) collaborate with faculty to teach skills and strategies that allow students to increase metacognitive awareness, active learning, and a growth mindset

Learning by Doing

At Riverdale, doing is an essential part of understanding. Students are provided with dozens of opportunities to participate in their education in unique and challenging ways that ask them to take ownership of their learning. Experiential education is part of Riverdale’s DNA. It builds students’ capacity to examine local and global issues, exploring connections between disciplines and relevant issues, and developing deep community connections that empower students to find and create belonging with their peers and beyond.

Students learn best by doing, reflecting, trying new approaches, reflecting again, and trying again. This is true whether a student is drafting a paper, creating a mathematical model, making a work of art, or cooking a meal on a campstove. Whether in the classroom, in our community of the Bronx, or in places around the world, Riverdale offers students the opportunity to learn to work in teams with different perspectives and appreciate that a whole can be greater than its parts. They grow into lifelong learners and ethical leaders by building skills in critical problem-solving, communication, emotional intelligence, and self-awareness.

Fostering Belonging in a Diverse Community

At Riverdale, community is more than just the bringing together of students, faculty, families, and staff into one place: it is the experience of belonging, of being acknowledged, accepted, and valued. Our students travel to campus from 117 zip codes and represent over 70 nationalities, and forty-eight percent identify as students of color. Our community includes a variety of family structures and life experiences. It is as much a part of the Riverdale experience to feel belonging as it is to create belonging for someone else. In the early days of the school, Riverdale’s founder Frank Hackett encouraged students to “put the other fellow first.”

Students consider how they operate within the communities they are a part of, and how their actions contribute to building an inclusive community. We strive for the identities of all students to be reflected in our curriculum and for our curricular materials to provide both windows and mirrors into students’ experiences. Students enlarge and refine their worldview at Riverdale, practicing the skills that enable them to live and work alongside individuals with different opinions, beliefs, and customs. We recognize that the work of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging is iterative and requires a consistent commitment. It is everyone’s work.

We aim for all Riverdale students to feel they belong and stay engaged with the school even after graduation.