District Initiatives in Riverside, CA

Riverside Unified School District played host to this year's U.S. Education Summit. Riverside is the14th largest school district in California and enrolls approximately 42,000 students in kindergarten through 12th grade. It serves a 92-square mile area including a major portion of the city of Riverside, as well as the Highgrove and Woodcrest areas. Riverside schools have been racially integrated since 1965, and more than 51 different languages are spoken by students.

The District operates 45 schools—29 elementary, 1 special education pre-school, 6 middle schools (grades 7-8), 5 comprehensive high schools (grades 9-12), 2 continuation high schools, and 2 alternative schools. The Riverside Unified School District employs 3,373 persons of whom 2,119 are certificated (as of October 2002). Forty-two percent of the teaching staff hold master's degrees and several hold doctorates.

Riverside Unified students generally match or exceed national and statewide performance on achievement tests.