About Riverbend

Our mission

Riverbend Academy helps every child grow into a curious, capable and kind person. We do it with small classes, teachers who stay, and a curriculum that asks students to think, make and explain.

Our story

Riverbend opened in 1958 in a two-room schoolhouse on Willow Bend Road, with forty-one students and three teachers. The schoolhouse is still here: it is our library now. Over the years the school grew into the brick building beside it, then added the science wing in 1994 and the arts barn in 2012.

How we teach

• Small classes. No class is larger than eighteen students.
• Teachers who know your child. Most of our teachers have been here more than ten years.
• Learning outside. Every class spends an afternoon a week on the river trail.
• Families as partners. Conferences twice a year, and a teacher who answers email.

Leadership

Riverbend is led by Head of School Dana Whitfield and a board of eleven trustees, most of them current or former Riverbend parents. Meet the whole team in our staff directory.