Riverview School

Students who enroll at Riverview are friendly, caring, and eager students with complex learning challenges. They thrive here as they experience typical adolescent and young adult academic, extra-curricular, and social pursuits.

Riverview students have life-changing experiences in an environment that is designed to embrace them completely. They make friends. They gain a deep feeling of connection to others. Self-esteem flourishes. Students become resilient and redefine themselves. They come into their own.

At Riverview School, we believe in each child’s potential. Riverview is a place where students belong, and where they develop the tools and skills necessary to become all they can be.

Our Population

Riverview School places a great deal of importance on the appropriateness of a candidate’s total application, the number of male and female openings in each grade and dorm, and in ensuring a good fit between the applicant and students who are currently enrolled.

Middle & High School Programs: Students ages 11–19, grades 6–12
Post High School Transition Program: Students ages 17–21

If your child meets the following criteria, he or she may be a candidate for Riverview:

Diagnosed language, learning and cognitive disabilities
Desires to make friends and is interested in forming relationships with others
Seeks typical teenage opportunities such as playing on sports teams, participating in drama, music, art and student government, attending dances, etc.
Responds well to a structured, supportive, predictable environment
Capable of greater success in the academic environment
Has mastered basic daily living skills and personal hygiene
Mild medical issues that complicate – but not compromise – daily activities
WISC or WAIS scores between 65–90 or functional abilities within that range

Please Note: The typical Riverview School student is often described as gentle, friendly and naïve. Therefore, students demonstrating a history of emotional, behavioral or psychiatric disorders, those requiring a therapeutic environment, are not able to be considered.

If you feel Riverview may be appropriate for your child, please provide us with the information listed in the Admission Procedures. You may also contact us with any questions you may have.

The Parent’s Experience

Our Story

Riverview School was founded in 1957 by Mr. William Janse, a visionary educator who believed that students with learning challenges could realize their potential. He and his partner, Mr. Burgess Butler, opened a summer camp on a 5-acre tract that was later expanded into the present 16-acre campus. The camp was so successful that it evolved into a school established under its original name, Hopefields School.

During the late 1960s, Riverview established a long-term relationship with the Learning Clinic at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. Groundbreaking work in tailored academic programming and social skill building for individuals with disabilities was developed on Riverview’s campus.

Over the ensuing decades, programs to facilitate independent living skills for our students have included the initiation of a transition program (for students ages 17–21), Getting Ready for the Outside World (GROW). The program formed an alliance with Cape Cod Community College (Project Forward) to offer a vocationally-based college experience to students. Our music, arts, dance, and drama programming has also been greatly expanded to demonstrate our commitment to developing the whole student.

Today, we serve approximately 200 students ages 11 to 21 with language, learning and intellectual disabilities from 23 states and 9 foreign countries as well as the Cape Cod community.

Riverview School, an independent coeducational boarding/day school, provides a caring community for adolescents and young adults with complex language, learning and cognitive disabilities. The School is committed to developing student competence and confidence in academic, social and independent living skills.

Educational Philosophy of Riverview School

Adolescents/young adults with disabilities versus disabled adolescents/young adults
Typical, age-appropriate extracurricular and social experiences
Emphasis on the whole child
Caring, structured and predictable living/learning environment
Respect and appreciation of different learning styles, interests and talents
Emphasis on developing self-determination and personal best
Encouragement to take risks with learning
Understanding of learning disabilities and strategies needed for success
Research-validated instructional techniques
Thematic, integrated instruction
Real life opportunities for generalization of skills
Direct and individualized instruction for academics, independent living, friendships and social skills
Promotion of resilience and lifelong learning
Cultivation of a learning community for all

The journey begins here.