Riverside Elementary School

All of the Lakeview schools have some issues. My son is a first-grader at Riverside, and he's not the typical "Riverside" kid. We're not the typical Riverside family. We're academics and liberals, and the school isn't. We're not blue-collar, and the school is. We're not in our early 20's, which appears to be the average age of the parents of the kids in my son's classroom. Doing some investigation, what we're seeing is that Lakeview in general is not very interested in educating kids, but rather in running a business. I wouldn't recommend any Lakeview school to special ed, special needs, or School of Choice kids--those children are not treated well. We are lucky insofar as our son is exceptionally bright, but like I said, he's not the typical Lakeview kid, and he's treated differently. We were told by the art teacher that he lacked skills due to immaturity, but she wasn't aware that he was left-handed and his "lack of skills" was because she wasn't teaching him to cut or draw with his left hand. Our experience with Riverview has been fair, our experience with Lakeview has been pretty terrible. I don't recommend it in general, unless you're confident your kid will fit in easily.
--Submitted by a parent

Kudos to the staff at Riverside! My daughter had Mrs. Warren, Miss Nasers, Mrs. Nickert and Mrs. Estes...all were fabulous, caring teachers. My son had Mrs. Sellers, Mr. Canfield, Mrs. King and Mrs. Estes...great experiences! The principal is very proactive and welcomes parents. Great anti-bullying policy...seems tough but it really seems to work on stopping the bullying. Love the music teacher Miss Champion as well.
--Submitted by a parent

The majority of the teaching staff is fantastic. My daughter loved Mrs. Warren, she is truly a wonderful teacher. I can't wait for my other two children to have her as well as Donna Keenan. There were some issues with a student acting inappropriately toward my daughter when she was in Kindergarten. I felt that administration let it go on for longer than it should have which caused my daughter some emotional trama. The same thing happened again this year with another student and administration jumped on it. It's good to see they learned. I recommend this school mainly due to the teaching staff and Lakeview's excellent curriculum. They have many family activities but the parents can be a bit clicky and flat our rude. However, my daughters education is the most important item she is a gifted student and is being challenged daily.
--Submitted by a parent

We love Riverside! We have enrolled 3 children there over the years. Our last is there now, and is learning disabled. The school staff have rallied around him and are more supportive than we could have hoped.
--Submitted by a parent

My daughter has attended her first grade in this school...i love this school because it has a acaring environment,the teachers are nice and dedicated to their work,they had compassion for kids,specially Mrs.Kathy Sellers,my daughter's teacher,I've never seen such a nice and caring teacher!My daughter love her and I love her too..we just came from the Philippines and this school is the first that my daughter has attended here in the U.S.,my daughter's experience in Riverside is great!she loves to go to school everday..she had fun and she didn't have a hard time adjusting to her new environment...Thanks to the teachers and staff...their warmth helped me and my daughter adjust to our new environment here in the U.S....right now,we have transferred here in North Carolina,if only we could bring Riverside with us!My daughter missed Riverside and I hope that we could find a school here that has nice and great teachers likeRiverside...SheilaLee
--Submitted by a parent

I have had all my concerns and questions well answered! They stepped up to the plate! The school has done everything I have asked for...Thank you Riverside staff,Special teachers and Principle!
--Submitted by a parent

This is a wonderful school my son entered into the Pre-K program with Miss Stults and Mrs. Verette whom are both patient and very effective.Not to metion Miss Julie the speech teacher who was outstanding with my son. What a refreshing change to academics because of these fine woman who have earned my respect.
--Submitted by Chrisitne Britanyak, a parent

I would agree that this school has excellent curriculum/facilities and the majority of the teaching staff are good (with a couple exceptions). I have 2 children that have attended. The only thing I have been dissatisfied with is the higher than average amount of bullying and aggressive behavior that goes on. Some teachers handle it better than others, and the principal has been ineffective at putting a stop to it. Some students are given consequences (which vary by person) by the principal for such behavior while others are not. Although this has been addressed by parents, the principal feels it is fair. The staff has recently taken training for bullying behavior. So far this has been ineffective for my children. It has also been our experience that if a staff member doesn't see an incident or a parent reports, it may be invalidated.
--Submitted by a parent

I have had 3 children attend Riverside School and have found it to be a caring environment with high accedemic standards. The school does not just jump on all new ideas, the staff questions and reviews data before changing their teaching styles and ideas, they truely want the very best for children. The school still believes in 'children should be children' with recess, parades and celebrations, that are very important to the self esteem and social skills of our children. I have always had a great experience at Riverside School as well as listening to experiences told by my children which is also a glowing review. I would rate this the # one elementary school in the Lakeview Disrtict.
--Submitted by a parent