Why Riley?
The Riley School provides children with a unique learning environment where educational fulfillment, social-emotional growth, and agency in one’s learning journey are nurtured. Students are supported in expanding their creativity and world view through a series of intentional and and challenging experiences that lead to academic success.
While there are many reasons that Riley may be the right place for your child, many people point to the below as key reasons that make the school right for them:
A 5:1 student-to-teacher ratio
Small classes ensure every child gets the attention, individualized programming, and support they need.
An individualized learning experience
We believe every child has an innate ability to learn, and every Riley student’s experience is therefore unique to them. Riley offers a stimulating environment where children are encouraged to learn in the manner that most interests and motivates them. Our faculty are keenly aware of the pace each child is comfortable with and tailors their learning accordingly through responsive, emergent curriculum.
We do not lean on letter grades as the sole measure of growth
Our experience, and ever-growing volumes of educational research, show us that education is a process, not a product. Our students do not receive letter grades or number scores, and are not ranked by performance. Every milestone is celebrated, and varied outcomes are both accepted and expected.
Multi-age classrooms
Just as adults learn from each other in the work place and in life, children in school learn from other children. It is common at Riley to see younger and older children interacting with and working on projects together — working toward a common goal, but with a slightly different road map.
Our faculty genuinely know their students
Our intentionally small learning community ensures that every Riley teacher knows and cares for our students Your child will not be just one in a crowd at Riley. Rather, time is built into our daily schedule for connection, reflection, and check-ins to foster a student-teacher relationship built on trust and mutual respect.
Riley kids use our entire campus as a classroom
Our 21-acre campus serves infinite purposes and incorporate both structured and unstructured play into our daily routine. The natural environment our campus provides is one of our most important classrooms and we prioritize establishing an understanding and appreciation of our environment as a key component of the Riley experience.
Children learn how to learn
Not all of us are born with the intuitive knowledge of how we learn best. Children and adults alike may be visual, auditory, or kinesthetic learners, and it is incumbent upon us as educators to individualize each student’s learning process as opposed to teaching “to the middle.” Riley students don’t just learn the facts — they learn how to question, analyze, and come to their own logical conclusions, leading to further development of executive function skills and readiness for secondary education.
50+ years of success
For more than 50 years, the Riley School has prepared children for high school and beyond. Riley graduates have gone on to some of the most prestigious schools in the country, and the majority go on to be honor-roll students. After their own learning and professional adventures after graduating, many alumni have returned to the Midcoast to provide a transformative experience for their own children at Riley.