Riderwood Elementary School is named for the neighborhood surrounding the six-acre school campus. The school is a single-story, brown brick building. The original building built in 1964 contains 21 classrooms, a library, a gymnasium, and a cafeteria. An addition to the school built in 1997 added six new classrooms for kindergarten and first graders.

Riderwood Elementary School

• opened in 1964 with 396 students between kindergarten and sixth grade
• won the National Blue Ribbon Award for educational excellence in 1995, the first Maryland school to achieve this distinction,
• has a capacity of 501 students
• 2008/2009 enrollment is 515 students
• Parallel block scheduling has been implemented throughout Riderwood since 1998 to facilitate flexible grouping for reading and mathematics
• Riderwood has been fortunate to attract and keep excellent faculty and staff. Combined experience at Riderwood represents hundreds of years of educational excellence
• A dedicated Parent Teacher Association contributes and coordinates thousands of volunteer hours, another strength at Riderwood
• Annual PTA sponsored activities include
  • Raccoon Tales, an annual art and literary publication,
  • Picture Parent, an introduction to art and artists throughout history
  • Geography Club
  • Annual community gatherings including a Back to School Picnic, a Holiday Breakfast, and Spring Fling
• Riderwood supports a number of committees/focus groups to address priority issues including:
  • SIT-School Improvement Team (student achievement)
  • SBMT-Site Based Management Team
  • Literacy Committee
  • Student Council
  • Technology Committee
  • GT Review & Referral Committee

  In addition, numerous liaisons bring back countywide information to dissiminate among faculty and staff

• Special areas including vocal and instrumental music, art, physical education, and computer lab are superb additions to the enriching atmosphere at Riderwood. Please see Special Programs for more information.

"Riderwood strives to help each student reach his or her greatest academic and personal potential."