Supporting the Whole Family: Inside Riverview School Featuring Jessica Miller

And perfect.

I mean, talk about the whole student approach.

You guys have so much going on there at Riverview.

And I know so many kids in the GROW program, but I did not know that's what it stood for.

So I learned something new today, too.

I think what's cool about Riverview, in addition to having a top-notch academic program, is that there is programming designed for our students after school and on the weekends and even in the evening.

So for students to really have an opportunity to participate in sports, in art, in music, in performance, in all sorts of wonderful after-school activities, which then gives them an opportunity really to make friends and keep friends and do really cool things with their friends where often many of our students were on the sidelines before they came to Riverview.

Riverview also has a summer program and it's a five-week program and it's a combination of academics in the morning and fun recreational activities in the afternoon.

You're right.

There's so much power in community and getting these young adults socializing.

You can really open up and they can reach their highest potential.

So I think that that's a really great thing that Riverview does is the whole person approach.

Why don't you tell us about the why behind the wraparound care and how it emphasizes that neurodivergent individuals thrive when their entire ecosystem is understood?

So before we talk about the second part of your question, I will tell you that the core competencies that Riverview pays attention to and has intentional programming in the center of the core is the whole student.

It's a very comprehensive program for our students who are pretty involved.

And the family piece Riverview has always valued partnerships with the families.

One of the things we know, and I'm just going to go back a little bit in working with families, is during the pandemic and right after the post-pandemic years, families in schools across the country and across all types of schools were experiencing families who were feeling disconnected and isolated from each other.

And from schools.

And when families are feeling disconnected and not part of the program, that often can result in either negativity or complaints or concerns.

And so when we talked about that in 21, I had a conversation with the head of school, Stuart Miller, and I had just left just a little bit about me.

I'll backtrack a little bit.

I'm a clinical social worker by training.

I have been working with families of kids with special needs for close to 50 years.

Most recently, I was the head of two schools for students who learn differently, the Wolf School, which is in Providence, Rhode Island.

It's a day school, K-8.