Academic Support

Though many of our students are far from home, at Riverside they’re never alone. Our academic support programs are designed to give every boy an opportunity for success. Using his desired endpoint as a starting point, counselors, teachers, and administrators work with students to develop and implement a pathway toward his goals.

Academy Counseling

Riverside Prep's Counseling Program is built to meet the educational, personal/social, and career needs of our cadets. We aim to reach all cadets through classroom and grade-level guidance, individual conferences, and small groups by design and as needed. We work in coordination with staff, faculty, administrators, and families to provide guidance and support to our cadets. Our mission is to provide a comprehensive guidance program that will assist cadets in acquiring the skills, knowledge, and attitudes needed to become effective students, responsible citizens, productive workers, and lifelong learners.

List of 1 members.

Dr. Earline Matney

Academic Counselor - Grades 6-10

College Counseling

We provide assistance and consultation in the following areas:

At Riverside, we prioritize consulting about schools within reach and then move on to those that may be more challenging to gain admission to. We emphasize the importance of maintaining a strong GPA, class rank, standardized test scores, college application essays, and community service participation. We provide personalized advice and support to each student throughout their college journey, ensuring they stay on track with their college and post-Riverside application plans.
Assistance with SAT and ACT registration, helping students to plan test dates that align with their application deadlines. Additionally, we offer guidance on how many tests to take and which test to take. We also ensure students know the various intervention options that can help them improve their test scores.
Provide guidance and support to students as they plan their visits, and accompany them on visits when possible.
During their study hall periods, students will have access to the college counselor with supervision provided. Parents can communicate electronically or attend scheduled family meetings in person. Depending on the need, study hall may also include instruction for entire classes.
College visitations on Riverside's campus during the Mess II period.
On-site manager for Naviance, our online application database, which houses and sends letters of recommendation and official transcripts.
Provide support for senior military college applications and collaborate with the senior army instructor to ensure successful service academy preparation.

List of 1 members.

Mrs. Tanner

College Counselor

Learning Support

Riverside is known for its challenging, rigorous, yet rewarding academic environment. Our goal is for every student to succeed academically and socially and be independent contributors to society after graduation.

The Mac and Sue McLendon Student Success Center is designed to meet the individual needs of students with recognized learning differences by providing academic, organizational, and motivational support. Students who struggle academically can access the learning center through a study hall or a resource class.

The learning specialist, in collaboration with the learning support specialist, oversees accommodations for each student, monitors their grades and academic status, assists students in developing soft and executive skills, works with academic teachers to keep up with the student's assignments and tests, and maintains consistent quality communication with academic and elective teachers, parents, and students.

Frequently Asked Questions

List of 4 frequently asked questions.

What Is Our Approach?

Because each student has their own learning style, the staff in the learning center use a student-focused approach to learning. While the staff is readily available for assistance, students are expected to advocate for themselves and identify their academic needs on a daily basis -- both the learning center and in their core classes. Study skills and organizational strategies lessons are embedded in his day-to-day goals. With the knowledge that some students acquire and process information differently, the learning specialist reviews each student’s file and forms a Riverside Learning Plan for implementation by his teachers across the curriculum. Students are made aware of the accommodations available to them and are expected to communicate with teachers and speak for themselves to get their needs met. Because our students with learning differences are regular students first, teachers are encouraged to make only the accommodations necessary for the student to succeed in their class. As a result, our students become independent learners who navigate through life successfully.
Does Riverside Prep Provide Accommodations?

Riverside will provide certain accommodations that are in line with the expectations of a college preparatory program. Students who have previous documentation in the form of an IEP, 504, or an Educational/Psychological Evaluation are eligible for these accommodations, however neither grading nor academic expectations are modified. Because our goal is for all cadets to be candidates for college acceptance, modifications to curriculum, assignments, and tests are discouraged. In order to prepare our students (with learning issues) for college, they are required to complete the same quality and quantity of work assigned to their peers. The learning center personnel strive to work collaboratively with students, teachers, school counselors, and parents to ensure that all students with the potential to meet Riverside’s rigorous academic standards can achieve academic, social, and personal success.
What Can We Provide?
The Mac and Sue McLendon Student Success Center provides a wide range of small group support and services. Cadets with documentation of diagnosed learning differences are evaluated and observed on a consistent basis to identify their individual academic and social needs. With this knowledge, the staff in the learning center is able to provide the following:
- A thorough and comprehensive analysis of the documentation submitted in order to develop a Riverside Accommodations Plan for implementation in all of the cadet’s classes
- Development of strategies tailored to each cadet’s learning style
- Consistent communication with teachers, parents, counselors and the cadet’s TAC officer
- Coaching to help cadets learn essential academic skills and become effective self-advocates
- Submit the necessary documentation to request accommodations on the ACT and the SAT
- Lessons to strengthen organizational, study, time management, and test-taking skills
- Remediation of skills and subject content support
- Weekly monitoring of grades and behavior to identify problematic areas and set goals for each cadet. Parents are kept abreast of critical grades and subsequent plans for action
What’s In It For My Student?
At Riverside Prep, we are committed to the academic, personal, and social success of each student. For us, it is not enough to simply deliver academic material. Relationships between cadets and teachers are key to a successful boarding school environment. Ultimately, it is these relationships that enable each student to flourish and develop the appropriate skills to go out into the world and make a difference.
Our goals are:
- To assist students as they learn and develop strategies in accordance with their learning style
- To encourage students to be independent, confident learners who advocate on their own behalf for appropriate support, services, and/or accommodations
- To provide opportunities for students to develop positive self-awareness and a willing attitude toward learning
- To help students acquire effective organizational, time management, and study skills that will carry over to their post-graduation plans
- To foster a positive and encouraging climate in the learning center so that students can learn and grow to be both successful and accomplished adults ready to meet and navigate the intricacies of our society today.

List of 1 members.

Mr. Brian Johnston

Middle School Administrator

The Service Academy Preparatory Program

For students who would like to earn a prestigious education and travel the world, the service academies offer an outstanding military model of education. In most cases, tuition, books, laboratory fees, room and board, and medical and dental care are paid in full for four years. The competition to be accepted into these institutions is fierce. The average acceptance rate is 8% or less depending on the service academy applied to and the size of the entering class.

Learn More >>

List of 1 members.

English Language Learning Program

Riverside Preparatory Academy provides our non-native English-speaking students with the English language skills they need to succeed academically in schools where English is the language of instruction.

Our primary goal is college placement, so our teachers focus on building the cognitive academic language proficiency of our students so they may excel in their academic courses and ACT/SAT college entrance exams.

We offer three levels of ESL classes serving beginner to advanced-level students. Please see our ESL Overview for complete descriptions.

Coursework is supplemented by field trips into the community that give students the opportunity to gain practical experience with their language skills.

Library Services

The mission of Riverside Prep’s Lucile Beaver Library is to encourage, inspire and preserve the foundations of reading, and learning by providing the necessary framework for the continual expansion of information literacy.

Riverside’s library houses over 21,000 books, and an extensive reference area which includes: The Riverside Alumni Military Special Collection, the State of Georgia Collection, digital resources, printed materials, and av sections.

The Riverside library's main reading room promotes faculty-led classroom instruction, while the Eagle Reading Room lends rising seniors a place to relax, discuss events of the day, and enjoy their favorite reads.

The learning commons area is designed to facilitate collaborative group work, class research projects, and individual study. The space in the learning commons is designed to support the development of 21st-century skills and accommodate students and teachers working in a 1:1 laptop environment.

Click here to visit the library's online database.