Creative, caring children and a passionate, professional staff fill Riverside Elementary School classrooms and halls.

Riverside Elementary School serves approximately 280 children in grades Kindergarten through Fifth Grade. Focusing on team based instruction, Riverside children are intensely supported throughout the school day.

In addition to our stellar classroom teachers, Riverside students are supported by two Academic Intervention Specialists, four Special Education teachers and outstanding Art, Music, Library, and Physical Education teachers.

In our pursuit of academic excellence for all, the staff exhausts all possibilities to help move students forward. While meeting once a week in Grade Level Teams, the staff reviews curriculum, identifies students strengths and weaknesses, and creates individualized plans for student improvement. In addition we have developed a program called "Power Up". In an effort to meet every child’s individual interests and specific learning needs, teams of professionals work together to carefully review individual student data. Based on our findings students are placed in small "Power Up" groups for a 30 minute period three times a week. This program allows us to provide student specific "prescribed" instruction. 

In touch with a tech savvy world our classrooms are equipped with the latest technology. Smart Boards, Promeathean Boards, document cameras, laptops, iPads, and chromebooks are available to every classroom. Grades 2- 5 are 1:1 with chromebooks, 1st grade has a shared chromebook cart and Kindergarten uses iPads. Riverside staff and students integrate technology on a daily basis. The technology is used to enhance instruction and engage students as active learners. 

Utilizing experiential learning our student body is extremely fortunate to be able to learn content through experiences. Be it traveling to historical sites, spending a week learning in a classroom without walls at Pine Lake, or having guest speakers and programs at Riverside Elementary, our staff is committed to teaching through a hands on experience.

Riverside comes together once a month as a school community. We celebrate each other at our monthly Pride Programs which take place the last Friday of the month at 9:00 a.m. Parents and Guardians are welcome to join us!

At Riverside Elementary the teachers and I are modeling and encouraging students to stand proud and chant out loud. Positive words are very powerful, but when you take those words and weave them into chants/songs they become emotionally driven. We have also incorporated stages in some of our classrooms. Teachers are using the stages to teach students soft skills such as eye contact, public speaking skills, and hand gestures. We also wear our house shirts every Friday school wide.

Riverside Elementary is a community of students hungry to learn with an energetic staff charged with providing the best education possible. With a strong commitment to working with Riverside families and the greater Oneonta Community, my door is always open. It truly is, my pleasure to serve you.

Respectfully,

Melinda K. Murdock