Back to School Letter from the Riverdale School Board
Dear Riverdale Community,
Welcome back to school! We’re excited to share that Riverdale High School is ranked #1 Best Public High School in Oregon for 2025 according to Niche.com (an increase from the #3 ranking last year). Additionally, according to Niche, our district held steady ranked #2 in Best School Districts in Oregon. We know the education our district offers is more than rankings or test scores, and we affirm our mission and vision statements.
Our Mission
Riverdale develops inquisitive, imaginative and eager learners. Our students demonstrate academic mastery through exhibition to become effective communicators and responsible leaders.
Our Vision
Students learn to use their minds well, engage creatively and act compassionately.
Student Focused Decision Making
We enthusiastically received an update on the mathematics curriculum adoption currently being implemented throughout our district. This adoption focuses on updated materials and professional development for our staff. We know this will positively impact student learning. Recently, we unanimously approved a thoughtful budget which continues to prioritize student needs and community values and updated goals with our superintendent.
Heeding the call from the budget subcommittee, our Superintendent Chris Russo and business manager Nicole Bassen have greatly improved our financial health. Income from investments is up from $19,000 in 2021-22, to $91,000 in 2022-23, and $138,000 in 2023-24. Additionally, income from facility rentals has grown from only $120 in 2021-22, to $26,000 in 2022-23, and $70,000 in 2023-24. The district is operating a conservative budget and these among other leveraged revenue streams and cost savings measures, have made it possible to maintain robust service and staffing levels. Reference the October 14, 2024 and March 11, 2024 financial updates for additional details.
Enrollment matriculation from Grade School to High School is gaining significant ground. We exceeded our historical 10 year target on 9th grade applicants. Targeted marketing practices have yielded the largest capture rate of freshman applicants in the past 8 years. With our High School’s candidacy to become an International Baccalaureate® (Diploma Programme)* school for the 2025-26 school year, and the Grade School exploring an adoption of the Middle Years Programme through International Baccalaureate, we’re optimistic that student outcomes will continue to flourish.
State Data
In partnership with our Superintendent, we made data driven shifts resulting in many improvements on our Oregon State District Profile. We had a 12% increase in both our graduation rate and our 3rd Grade English Language Arts scores! Thank you to our educators for supporting our students in these gains, and thank you to our students for their diligent effort.
Riverdale students had the highest and/or second highest proficiency rate of all grades tested in both English Language Arts and Science statewide. Notably, last year's 7th and 5th graders scored 94% and 93% proficient on their English Language Arts exam, the highest two proficiency rates in the entire state.
The data shows opportunities for growth, particularly in mathematics. We’re using state data, among other qualitative and quantitative metrics, to continuously improve and make strategic investments to impact student achievement.
Attendance
Regular attenders increased 9% last year! This positively impacts our state funding allocation and we appreciate your partnership to further improve attendance.
We’re all in for students.
Here’s to a great year!
Jeff Dominitz, Director
Ali Lanenga, Director
Kevin McPherson, Director
Michele Rosenbaum, Chair
Mina Stricklin, Vice Chair
