Riverdale Country School

t1388
Sat, 23 Sep 2006 15:04:57 +0000

I do not know about the merit of this lawsuit. It is difficult for me to believe that Riverdale, or any other selective schools, will discriminate against children of rich celebrities.

Instead of talking about allegation and rumor, I like to share some thoughts with you. In an open letter to upper school parents, the head of upper school wrote, “what should we be doing at Riverdale to make it easier for students to get the most out of a wonderful school and still be teenagers, kids who need to sleep, socialize, and pursue much interest?”

Thought #1
Teenagers need as much sleep as they can get and we know out students do not get enough sleep. Encouragement to sleep must come from home and school.

Thought #2
A Riverdale student should be encouraged and enabled to be an athlete, an actor or writer or musician, a kid with afternoon and weekend hobbies or interests that are meaningful and time-consuming.

Thought #3
Homework is important but it should be not overwhelming. The School should expect that five nights per week (Monday to Thursday and Sunday evening), a student will have undisturbed, undistracted time to study and to prepare – from about 7 pm until 10:30 pm or about 8 pm to 11:30 pm. We are making it a point of emphasis this fall to examine the volume of homework we assign and to insure that homework is the meaningful reinforcement and exploration that it ought to be.

Thought #4
The School should expect that, in addition to five nights of homework, a student will find additional hours on the weekend to read, study, and prepare – perhaps on Saturday, perhaps on Sunday, In addition, students must be encouraged to use free time at school to study as well as to socialize. It is important for teenagers to learn how to balance their obligations to friends and to their work.

Thought #5
Parents and students need to feel that teachers are empathetic, than we will have high standards but flexible and compassionate approaches to out students.

Thought #6
We owe it to ourselves to say that decision about where a teenager goes to college is not a life-or-death decision and it is not even a decision that compares to the really important choices we eventually all must make. The School must commit to removing any subtle messages it undoubtedly broadcasts that college admission is the only reason students come to Riverdale. Instead we must recommit ourselves to encouraging teenagers to be teenagers, learning from and enjoying all the opportunities that an extraordinary secondary school has to offer.

Thought #7

Admission to an appropriate, fine college or university after Riverdale is a perfect normal goal and we will never eliminate all the stress that surrounds the endeavor. Just as the school must examine the ways it adds to this pressure, so must families do all they can to reduce the burdens on their children. Perhaps the numbers one enemy in this regard is SAT preparation, a drain on student time that can literally rob an eleventh grader of every waking she has and put the preparation for a three-hour standardized test ahead of homework, weekend free time or sleep. The simple answer is to confine test preparation to the summer, to vacations, and at the same time to recognize that enormous amounts of time and money are often wasted in pursuit of the most marginal differences in numbers.

Riverdale is not perfect. If the accusations in Daily News article bother you, I am sure that many other schools offer more financial aids or spots for celebrities. You have to decide for yourself what the goals of your high school experience are. Good luck in your prep school admission.