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About Riverstone
BRIEF HISTORY
Riverstone International School was established in 1997 under the name Hidden Springs Community School. The mission of the school was to provide students in the Treasure Valley with a quality, independent education. Located just north of Boise, Idaho, the School opened its doors with 57 students enrolled in kindergarten through eighth grade. In the decade since its opening as Hidden Springs Community School, Riverstone International School has been an ever evolving and dynamic educational environment.
It did not take long for word to spread about the School and its offerings. In 1998, enrollment in the Elementary School increased and the beginnings of the Upper School, grade nine, was established. In just three years, enrollment doubled. In 2000, the School moved from Dry Creek Valley to southeast Boise and changed its name to RiverStone Community School. The School was housed in an old Forest Service building and three modular buildings that were built by the School.
By the fall of 2001 enrollment had increased to 130 and an additional building was added. The School was accredited by the Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges and Universities (NASCU) and the State of Idaho. In that same year the School approached the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO) to begin the rigorous authorization process that would permit the School to offer the revered IB Diploma Programme. This required adding grades ten through twelve to the Upper School.
In the 2002-2003 school year, grade ten was added and enrollment reached 170. Wanting to develop a global student body, the School's first international exchange students arrived in 2002. These students came from Russia, Thailand, Germany, Brazil, Spain, Chile, and Colombia.
The School dedicated itself to completing a full Upper School with a college preparatory curriculum culminating with the IB Diploma Programme in the final two years of Upper School (high school). In 2003, the School's enrollment increased to 235 students, including nineteen international students from countries including, Austria, Chile, France, Germany, Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Spain, Thailand, and Vietnam. Eleventh grade was added, additional property was secured and the School broke ground on a new elementary school.
Grade twelve was added in 2004 and the IB Diploma Programme was authorized for grades eleven and twelve. In 2005, the School became an accredited member of the Pacific Northwest Association of Independent Schools (PNAIS) and the School's second graduating class became the first recipients of an IB Diploma in the State of Idaho. The School changed its name to Riverstone International School in 2006.
Riverstone International School is one of only 6 schools in the US and the only school west of the Mississippi to offer all three IB programmes, the Primary Years Program (PYP), Middle Years Program (MYP), and the Diploma Program (DP).
In the 2007-2008 school year, the school opened its new Upper School building, downtown on Broadway Avenue. The Broadway Campus currently house grades 10 to 12. The School continues to grow and enrollment for the 2009-2009 school year is at 316, including thirty-two international students from sixteen countries.
CAMPUS AND FACILITIES
The school is situated on two sites. The main campus is on 13 acres in southeast Boise, nestled between the Boise River and the Greenbelt, and adjacent to the Idaho Shakespeare Festival. The main building houses administration and the Elementary School. A purpose built school building was constructed in the fall of 2003, a new gymnasium was added in 2006, and the new Elementary building in 2010. A former Forest Service building houses the school library and special purpose classrooms.
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