Neha Patil (Editor)

Rivers School

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Established
  
1915

Grades
  
6-12

Average class size
  
12 students

Phone
  
+1 781-235-9300

Head of school
  
Ned Parsons

Enrollment
  
489 (2014-2015)

Tuition
  
45,590 USD

Endowment
  
22.3 million USD

Type
  
Independent, Day, Coeducational

Address
  
333 Winter St, Weston, MA 02493, USA

Motto
  
"Excellence with Humanity"

Profiles

Rivers school open gym


The Rivers School is an independent, coeducational preparatory school in Weston, Massachusetts.

Contents

Rivers' Middle School program includes grades 6-8, while its Upper School program includes grades 9-12. As of 2014, 489 students are enrolled from 70 Massachusetts towns. The Rivers School's endowment was $22.3 million for the 2014-15 academic year.

Dec17 16 sac v rivers school


History

The school was founded in 1915 as a school for boys at its first location in Brookline, Massachusetts. The founder and first headmaster was Robert W. Rivers. The Country Day School for Boys of Boston merged with Rivers in 1940. The school moved to its present location in Weston in 1960. It became co-educational in 1989.

Academics

Rivers offers the following Advanced Placement classes:

  • English literature and composition
  • United States History
  • United States Government & Politics
  • Modern European History
  • Latin
  • French Language & Culture
  • Spanish
  • Statistics
  • Calculus AB and BC
  • Microeconomics
  • Environmental Science
  • Chemistry
  • Biology
  • Physics
  • Computer Science
  • Music Theory
  • Chinese
  • Athletics

    Rivers competes in the Independent School League. The Rivers School campus has more than 12 acres (49,000 m2) of playing fields that includes Waterman Field, a 54,000-square-foot (5,000 m2) multi-sport synthetic turf field, as well as six outdoor tennis courts.

    Indoor athletic facilities include the Haffenreffer Gymnasium with a full size basketball court and the 78,000- square foot MacDowell Athletic Center which contains:

  • MacDowell Ice Arena hockey rink, which during the fall, spring and summer transforms into a 70 x 40 yard indoor synthetic field
  • Benson Gymnasium
  • Benson Fitness Center
  • Sports medicine office
  • Team rooms
  • Locker rooms
  • Rivers has boys and girls varsity teams in the following sports:

  • Football (boys only)
  • Field Hockey (girls only)
  • Soccer
  • Cross Country
  • Basketball
  • Ice Hockey
  • Skiing
  • Lacrosse
  • Baseball (boys only)
  • Softball (girls only)
  • Tennis
  • Track
  • The Rivers School Conservatory

    The Rivers School Conservatory was founded in 1975 by Ethel Bernard, one of the pioneers of the music school movement. She approached the Rivers School with the idea of using the then unoccupied former headmaster’s house on the campus (now called Blackwell House after George H. Blackwell) of the then all-boys college preparatory school.

    It was first called the Music School at Rivers, then Rivers School Conservatory. In 1978, the Annual Seminar on Contemporary Music for the Young was established. It was the subject of a WGBH-TV documentary that was broadcast internationally by PBS. Seminar guests have included John Cage (1983). All pieces performed are composed in the 25-year period prior to each seminar. Many were premières and several dozen were commissioned pieces. Recent examples include Matineé: The Fantom of the Fair by Libby Larsen.

    The Conservatory presently has over 750 students, including a student orchestra program, jazz and chamber ensembles, music theory and composition, its critically acclaimed Marimba Magic program, choruses, master classes, workshops, and private lessons on every orchestral and jazz instrument, piano, and voice.

    Notable alumni include Matthew Aucoin, whose teacher was Sharon Schoffman.

    The Boston Globe has reviewed some of its concerts.

    Clubs and cocurriculars

  • The robotics team Architechs competes in the FIRST Tech Challenge, having the team number 4176.
  • The Debate and Model UN clubs attend national conferences every year, including the University of Connecticut's Model UN Conference and the New England Region of Junior Statesmen of America debates.
  • The Current, the school's art and literary magazine, was awarded First Place in the 2013 American Scholastic Press Association's national competition.
  • Notable alumni

  • Jack Lemmon ’39, actor
  • John T. Noonan, Jr. '44, United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit senior judge
  • David Steinberg '46, Distinguished Professor of Asian Studies at Georgetown University School of Foreign Service
  • Frederick Wiseman '47, documentary filmmaker
  • David Lamb '51, reporter for major newspapers including The Milwaukee Journal and The Los Angeles Times
  • Glen W. Bowersock ’53, ancient history scholar at Princeton University
  • Richard G. Darman ’60, former director of the Office of Management and Budget (1989–1993)
  • David Sutherland '63, award winning independent documentary filmmaker
  • Joseph I. Banner ’71, former CEO of the Cleveland Browns and longtime front office executive in the Philadelphia Eagles organization
  • Philip Goldberg '74, The US Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research
  • Joshua Kraft '85, CEO of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Boston and President of the New England Patriots Charitable Foundation
  • Jon Anik '97, commentator and television host for the Ultimate Fighting Championship
  • Jillian Dempsey ’09, professional ice hockey player
  • Charlie Rugg '09, Professional Soccer Player for the Los Angeles Galaxy
  • Elliot Richardson, lawyer and member of Nixon and Ford cabinets
  • References

    Rivers School Wikipedia