Connecticut State Department of Education has named Riverside Magnet School at Goodwin College a 2016-2017 School of Distinction for the school’s extraordinary growth in the state’s Accountability Index.
The achievement rests with the extraordinary SBAC scores from the school’s third graders, the first year that test scores were available for the young school. Riverside Magnet School opened in 2013 as Goodwin College Early Childhood Magnet School, expanding from a pre-k program to a pre-k through grade 5 school. The magnet elementary school added its first third-grade cohort in 2016.
With an achievement gap between all students and high needs students less than half of the state’s average, Riverside earned honors as one of the “Greatest Improvers” in the state.
“As a Reggio Emilia-inspired school, our magnet theme gives kids motivation and reason to want to challenge and grow themselves,” Goodwin College’s Director of Magnet School Operations Lynn Guerriero said. “Teaching to the whole child shows that all children are capable and competent learners.”
Despite the school’s constant growth, it is its sense of community that has continued to drive its excellence.
Goodwin University is a nonprofit institution of higher education and is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE), formerly known as the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC). Goodwin University was founded in 1999, with the goal of serving a diverse student population with career-focused degree programs that lead to strong employment outcomes.