The Riderwood community, students, faculty, staff and parents would like to thank you for visiting our site and showing an interest in what is taking place in our building.

Riderwood has been and continues to be a school where all children are meeting with academic success as evidenced by our standardized test scores. We have a strong balanced staff made up of recent graduates, experienced veteran teachers, as well as everything in between. Our goal is to focus on the needs of individual students in order to help them continue to make progress as they are challenged on a daily basis. We endeavor to engage students in learning and offer them a differentiated program based on their range of academic talents.

Teachers are well versed in using a variety of strategies and bringing this knowledge into play in the instructional setting. We have a wealth of materials and resources available that are continually being added to in order to address the various ability levels of our student population. We utilize our support personnel to enhance student learning. The instructional assistants and paid parent helpers are used to provide additional small group assistance to targeted students within assigned classrooms.

Parent and community support continues to be a Riderwood trademark. Our parents enjoy the opportunity to be a part of what is happening in our building. Our parent volunteers are trained to work in classrooms to support all areas of the curriculum. Their assistance and talents are appreciated by faculty and staff members. They make a valuable contribution to fostering opportunities for student growth, as well as assisting with or overseeing extracurricular student activities.

We have many opportunities for students to demonstrate their leadership qualities as well as their talents. We have a strong Student Council Association, Peer Mediation Group, a School Store Enterprise, and the School Safety Patrol. All students from 1st to 5th grade have an opportunity to participate in music performances during the year. Fifth grade students also have the opportunity to participate in the instrumental music program where they will learn how to play a wind, string or percussion instrument and perform in a Winter and Spring concert.  Students can also try out for the annual play or talent show in order to put their many talents in the arts to work.  There is also opportunity for students to work on the television crew with Mr. Hallett and produce the morning announcements!

Every classroom is equiped with a wall or ceiling mounted television. This device is used in a variety of educational capacities. It is connected to the teacher computer station so that curriculum related information can be shared with the class. It has internet capabilities as well. In addition, it is connected to a media retrieval system, allowing access to educational videos or taped programs. Additional student computer stations are located in all classrooms.

The school has a Dell computer lab and two experienced professionals that work with staff members to coordinate grade curriculum content and technology to enhance student learning.

We also have a wireless mobile computer lab of 15 laptops.  This can be signed out by teachers for classroom use.  This allows teachers to integrate technology into their core curriculums.

We continue to enjoy the benefits of our climbing wall, thanks to the efforts of the Healthy Minds and Muscles committee. What a unique opportunity for Riderwood, as very few schools in the county can boast of having this as a way to extend and enrich their physical education curriculum.

Before and after school clubs and interest groups add another dimension to the lives of Riderwood students. Currently we have a Math Fact Acquisition Club, a Geography Bee Club, Picture Parent Program, and school newspaper.

The stability of the Riderwood school and community results from the total commitment and dedication of both parents and teachers. We continue to take great pride in our student's academic success stories, our positive and productive school climate, and the outstanding teamwork of all members of our professional learning community. We support and work to embody the philosophy of "No Child Left Behind." We will maintain this focus in order to guarantee future success for all Riderwood students as lifelong learners and happy, productive members of society.

Sincerely,