Best Private School in DC: The River School

Ask any parent in Washington, D.C., what they worry about most, and the early years of school will almost always come up. Will my child feel seen? Will they actually enjoy learning? What if they need something a typical classroom cannot give them? The River School was built as a direct answer to every one of those questions. And for DC families, it has been delivering on that promise since the day it opened.


Every Classroom Has Two Teachers. Here Is Why That Changes Everything.

Most schools put one teacher in front of twenty-something kids and call it a day. The River School does something no other private school in DC does at this scale: every single classroom pairs a master’s level educator with a full-time speech-language pathologist. Two professionals, one room, every day.

This is not a support service that kids get pulled out for. It is built right into the daily rhythm of the classroom, which means every child benefits from it whether they need extra language support or not. The result is a level of attention and responsiveness that a single teacher simply cannot replicate.

The Numbers That Tell the Real Story

Data does not lie. Here is what the River School looks like in practice, not just on paper.

  • 190 total students across the whole school, keeping the community genuinely small

  •  5:1 student-to-faculty ratio, one of the lowest of any private school in DC

  •  Average class size of just 12 students

  •  86 faculty members, 59 of whom hold advanced degrees

  •  30% of students receive tuition assistance, making River more accessible than most assume

  •  37% of students come from racially or ethnically diverse backgrounds

  •  33% of each child’s day is spent in physical activity

  • 15% of students have some degree of hearing loss, learning alongside peers in fully inclusive classrooms 

Inclusion Is Not a Program Here. It Is the Point.

The River School was founded on a genuinely unusual idea: that children with hearing loss and children without hearing loss learn better together than apart. That founding belief has shaped everything from how classrooms are staffed to how the curriculum is designed.

What this creates in practice is a community where difference is normal. Kids grow up around peers who communicate in different ways, who face different challenges, and who bring different perspectives to every conversation. That is not just good for children with hearing needs. Research consistently shows it makes every child in the room more empathetic, more adaptable, and more aware of the world beyond their own experience.

How Students Here Learn by Doing

River’s curriculum is built around themes that connect subjects together rather than teaching them in isolation. A child exploring a unit on water might find themselves reading about rivers in literacy, measuring rainfall in maths, painting landscapes in art, and singing songs about the ocean in music. Nothing exists in a silo.

  • Mouth Time and Sound Spot

These two programmes, developed by River’s own research team and peer-reviewed nationally, focus on early reading through oral language and sound awareness. They are not borrowed from somewhere else. They were created here, tested here, and proven here.

  • Upper Elementary: Where Independence Kicks In

By grades 4 and 5, students shift into longer immersive learning blocks, independent research projects, a growing focus on executive functioning skills, and field studies that take them out into Washington, D.C. The goal is a child who heads into middle school not just knowing things, but knowing how to learn.

River Does Not Just Prepare Children for the Next Grade. It Prepares Them for Life.

There is a particular kind of confidence that River graduates carry with them. They know how to ask good questions. They know how to work with people who are different from them. They know that learning is something you do, not something that happens to you. For families searching for the best private school in DC, that outcome is worth everything. Get in touch. 

Learn about the admission process. Visit riverschool.net, or call 202-337-3554 to schedule your visit.

 

Quick Answers: River School FAQs

Does my child need a hearing loss diagnosis to attend?

No. River serves children with and without hearing loss together in the same inclusive classrooms.

What ages does the River School accept?

From 18 months through Grade 5. 

Is financial aid available?

Yes. Around 30% of current students receive tuition assistance. The admissions team can walk you through the process.

What happens after Grade 5?

River’s Nextplacement program supports every family in finding the right middle school fit after graduation.
Location: 4880 MacArthur Blvd NW, Washington, DC 20007, USA

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