Riverview International Academy

9308 Winter Gardens Boulevard

Lakeside, CA 92040

School District

Lakeside Union Elementary
Grade

PK-5
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:22
Type

public

School Map for Lakeside Union Elementary School District

GreatSchools Rating

The school rating calculation is based on four ratings: the Student Progress Rating or Academic Progress Rating, College Readiness Rating, Equity Rating, and Test Score Rating each designed to show different facets of school success. Learn more about GreatSchools Ratings

Reviews

Submitted by parent on June 25, 2024

We absolutely love Riverview International Academy! I have one child who is now in middle school, two currently enrolled, and one about to start kindergarten. We chose to pursue the Mandarin Immersion Program for several reasons. One, Mandarin is the number 1 spoken language in the world and an international language of business. No matter what field they go into, they will stand out amongst their peers if they are fluent in Mandarin! Secondly, studying Mandarin, a character based language, along with English, activates both sides of their brains, stimulating their learning and brain development. Our children are thriving in this program and we absolutely love the community we have built. One of my children has an IEP for dyslexia and I have been very pleased with the work our teachers have done to accommodate his learning needs. He has received excellent support from teachers, support staff, and administration. Two of our children are advanced learners and I feel the school has done a great job making sure they are challenged in their learning and able to grow individually. I cannot recommend this school enough!
Submitted by parent on June 25, 2024

Amazing school! I researched a lot before decided on a school for my kids (we live in a different district) and chose this school for their Mandarin program. I have two kids in 1st & 5th grade mandarin immersion program. They learned so much at school and the teachers are so great! They also have cultural experience, performance during Lunar New Year festival, International Fair, etc. My kids now can understand, write and speak in Mandarin! Learning a second language from a free public school is a very rare opportunity here in San Diego. Not a lot of schools offer this. They also have Spanish immersion program. I recommend this school!
Submitted by parent on April 01, 2024

I have two children in this stellar program! Both my children speak, read and write fluent Mandarin and are in 7th and 3rd grade. The teachers are brilliant and kind. They truly care about your children, get to know them individually and get to know their families. The support staff at all of the schools are are excellent. It is so comforting knowing the same children and parents that your kids will go to school with for 13 years. You get to develop tight relationships with everybody and you just become one big family!
Submitted by parent on March 18, 2024

We are a non-speaking mandarin household. After taking a tour of the campus and seeing all the students fluently speak and write mandarin, I was blown away! All of the mandarin teachers have the biggest hearts for our students. They are very active in the community and opportunity for the students to perform through song and dance at various events outside of school. Not only the teachers and staff are stellar, but also the parent support is phenomenal. I have only amazing things to say about this school! If you were looking into a language immersion program, without a doubt I would check out Winter Gardens / Riverview International Academy Mandarin & Spanish Program.
Submitted by parent on March 11, 2024

I have 2 kids in the Mandarin program and they are doing great! I am not a Mandarin speaker and I love that my kids are learning a 2nd language. I would recommend this program for everybody, the Mandarin teachers are great!
Submitted by parent on March 08, 2024

Both my children have been attending this language immersion school. I really love that this is a local public school, exclusively offering 2 language programs (Mandarin and Spanish). The cultural enrichment and experiences are phenomenal. My children are above average academically. They also get to engage in the community by performing at many of San Diego's cultural events. My kids are in the Mandarin program and are always learning songs, and cultural arts. My son even learned how to play the Chinese yo-yo! This school is truly a special community. I love that the class size are small and there's many school events to promote family engagement and connection.
Submitted by parent on March 05, 2024

I have two Grands at this school and also Volunteer in the classroom. I am so impressed at how the girls are learning mandarin from K up. Our 3rd grader can carry on a basic conversation in mandarin and understands even more. The teachers are compassionate, and innovative in how they teach. I speak very highly of this school, both Riverview campus and Winter Garden PK-1st grade campus. I was doubtful when our daughter enrolled them, but quickly changed my mind. Best decision ever. Not only are they expanding their own English language, learning Math, Science but also in Mandarin. Plus they learn the culture & traditions of the Chinese people. Which in turn reflects their acceptance of all cultures.
Submitted by parent on March 04, 2024

Both of my kids are attending this school. (3rd grade and kindergarten). They love their teachers, I’m happy with the progress. Kids love the school. Learning mandarin is an amazing challenge for the kids.
Submitted by parent on March 04, 2024

We absolutely love this school and feel so fortunate to have found this community! I have a child who has gone through the Mandarin program and is in middle school and kids who are still in it. It's amazing the amount of work these teachers put in to their students. Our children are in Mandarin for half the day and English the other half. They are learning to read, write, and speak in both languages with great success. The school has STEAM labs on both campuses (Winter Gardens is the TK-1 campus, Riverview is the 2-5 campus), music lessons, after school activities (parent paid), school community events, and more! We recommend this school to anyone who is looking for a quality education for their children. In the Mandarin program specifically, this feels like a once in a lifetime opportunity to have your kids become fluent in Mandarin (as it is very difficult to learn Mandarin as an adult). We have been told my children sound like native Mandarin speakers...it blows me away every time! No matter what field they go into as adults, I hope they can use their language skills. Either way, they will be more developed learners and thinkers from the process of immersion.
Submitted by parent on March 03, 2024

I want to give a big shout out to staff, teachers, students and the Principal Mrs. Cox at RIA because they are awesome. My child started attending last year, in 1st grade and he’s had an amazing journey. Since I attended the orientation, it was clear to me my son would have the support needed in the journey of learning a new language while staying on top of his academics. Chinese immersion program has been a great way to challenge my child, help him grow culturally, socially and academically. The teaching structure and attention the kids get at RIA has met my expectations. Having raised two more children who attended charter schools, it’s been easy for me to compare the level of education. Don’t get me wrong, I was plenty happy with my charter schools, but RIA has met and gone beyond my expectations.I greatly recommend the Chinese immersion program as well as the Spanish immersion program. Don’t be afraid of the challenge as you and your student will gain much more.
Submitted by parent on March 03, 2024

My child is in the mandarin immersion program and he has learned so much, not only the language but also the culture. The teachers we have interacted with (k-2) have been great. I was surprised this was a public school but I’m thrilled to have my child in the program. He is also learning Spanish as well as participating in a music program.
Submitted by parent on February 20, 2024

My child is in the Mandarin immersion program and I can’t say enough good things about the experience. I highly recommend this school.
Submitted by parent on January 23, 2024

This is our second year, my daughter is in first grade. We have had a wonderful experience at this school! Coming from an English-speaking home, and entering an immersion school is tough, but so incredibly rewarding. Knowing our child is exposed to many cultures and 3 languages has been wonderful. We have enjoyed the unified, small school experience here. From the jog-a-thon to the international festival to the everyday activities, RIA rocks! I randomly was googling our school and came across this site. It's clear that people only write reviews when they want to complain so I figured I'd leave mine!
Submitted by parent on August 29, 2023

This used to be a great school, until Grace Cox took over as principal. Now I can not wait for my children do be done with this place. She talks to adults like we are preschoolers. She makes ridiculous rules and has very poor communication. Many quality teachers have left after her taking over. It's a shame, it used to be great.
Submitted by parent on May 23, 2023

This school has gone down hill. The Principal and support staff do not acknowledge or solve any issues. They are desperate for teachers and will hire anyone willing.
Submitted by parent on November 05, 2022

My 4 teenagers completed k-5 at Riverview. They completed the chinese Language program. At this point in High school the kids who did the immersion program are graduating top of there class with GPA'S above 4.5 and even higher if they dual immersed. My youngest is in 5th grade at Riverview. He is a bit behind due to COVID and lack of self discipline but this year he has his favorite teacher ever. Sandy Wu. When my teens started they had Jodi Cox as their kindergarten teacher. She was inspiring and is now the principal. Overall the only thing I would have done differently is dual immersion instead of only chinese. Mostly because my kids would be #1 in HS GPA VS top 12. This is because the single immersion kids only get 2 AP classes per year vs dual immersed kids get 4 AP classes. Also, in general the Chinese people are ao friendly. Even years after my kids graduated I am still in contact with almost all of their past teachers. Jodi Cox never forgets my name when she sees me in the hall or even on another campus. I wish my grown children had this opportunity when they were younger. Also I had 2 children there with IEP's. All there needs were accomodated. I was recommended against immersion with my son because he has Autism. I was told he would struggle in English. That was not the case. He is lazy unfortunately but when he applies himself he gets 100% in English. We never had a problem with bullying. No regrets.
Submitted by parent on October 30, 2021

I had 4 children attend this school. We pulled our 2 younger ones out. The anoint of bullying that occurs at this school is outrageous! One teacher took a picture of the welts left on my child but didn't even send the other child to the principals office. If you are on the in with the staff and your child is a bully the school literally turns a blind eye.
Submitted by parent on June 21, 2021

No control over the students, discipline policies are weak, students are allowed to get away with horrible and inexcusable behaviors. Classroom management on the Mandarin side of the school is shockingly weak. I've heard the Spanish program's teachers a little better regarding their classroom management and behavioral expectations. Reading scores will suffer unless you get your child additional reading supports after school and math is only taught in Mandarin. This leaves gaps in traditional math acquisition. Learning a second language is great but without classroom management and strong behavioral expectation, students are not learning in this environment.
Submitted by parent on August 26, 2016

Amazing school! Incredible experience thus far. Phenomenal, special opportunity for kids! From day 1, I was impressed and wished that I could have had these opportunities of learning/immersing another language at such a young age and still learn everything else that all other schools learn plus so much more! These kids are VERY lucky, special kids. Schools like this in LA (where I lived 6 years ago and learned about Immersion schools and knew I wanted it) cost more than SD private schools. The fact that this experience is state-funded is incredible. Personally, I would pay for it. My daughter is going into 4th grade in a few days. She's in the Spanish Immersion program. She is happy, talented, diverse and loves her school. We drive quite a distance to attend Riverview so she doesn't even go to school with her "local/neighborhood/sport" friends but has so many wonderful friendships with kids at Riverview that are from all over. The kids that go to this school are really Smart. Unique. Exceptional. And, they know they know it too. They know they have an edge over the rest. What they don't even realize is how much of an edge and just how many opportunities they are going to have in their near future and the rest of their lives. Yes, the school has a lot going on... lots of teachers, classrooms, kids- It's busy (not a small/quiet/private school feel).... and yes, they have gone thru changes- split into 2 campuses now and we new administrators. They were great before, but I feel like even better now. Not because of who they were/are, but because of the positive changes they are making. They are clearly defining the school's mission and model and molding it in such a way that it will only remain and become more successful every year. I love our new Principal who came on last year, Dr. Thurman. He and the new VP are going to rock this year. Every parent coming into this program is nervous. Because it is "DIFFERENT" and not for everyone. But, now, I am extremely happy and confident that I made the right decision. My daughter is 9, going into 4th...She reads, writes, performs, sings, presents and THINKS in 2 languages. She reads 5th grade level in Spanish and 4-5 in English. She does Math in Spanish. She writes Spanish Essays. They are very Tech savvy. Their State Test schools are above average across the board. She gets Mandarin enrichment as well. Ah-mazing!
Submitted by parent on July 08, 2016

Pros: Challenging, small classroom ratio size in comparison to other districts, caring teachers (our experience) and safe (the school remains locked throughout the school day and there is only one entrance during school hours.Cons: Homework amount does not encourage family time (manageable, but definitely can hinder extra curricular activities to a certain degree or even basic family night) lack of diversity amongst students/decent amount of diversity amongst staff. Maestra Mitlich awesome kinder teacher, she took a lot of time assisting my daughter with catching up, as a transfer from a 50/50 dual immersion program. Excellent caring teacher!Srta. Aria, a very concerned and engaging 1st grade teacher, who truly wants the best for her students. Was also a great help with assisting my son with becoming more confident in his ability to speak and write in Spanish. I would recommend both of the above mentioned teachers!Principal is also very involved, and listens to the concerns of parents.THT.H.