Spirit Week 2023

Get in on the fun May 15th-19th!

Spirit week begins tomorrow so check out the schedule below and encourage your children's creativity! No need to rush out buy things though. Spirit week is a great opportunity to practice resourceful thinking and costuming! Here is the line up:

Medieval Monday (no weapons) Princesses and princes, kings and queens, jesters, warriors…

Time Travel Tuesday Little you, future you, someone from the 70s or 1920s or 1800s or 2300. It's up to you!

Wacky Wednesday The whackier the better! Mix things up!

PJs Thursday You know, wear PJs! Or whatever you sleep in..

Fandom Friday Dress like your favorite book character or author, scientist, musician, facilitator, sports person, president-someone of whom you are a FAN!!

Kite Week 2023

May 15th-19th

Kite week is a long standing Riley tradition that the children look forward to every year and it's finally here! For a week children are given opportunities to explore the ins and outs of kites and the wind that sends them flying.. And then.. if/when the wind is just right.. we have a KITE DAY!

Keep an eye out for a special flag or wind catching item in driveway to indicate “This is KITE DAY!” Families are welcome to join us on that day. Please, please let’s keep this simple as children will make a kite at school and we would prefer that you not run out and buy a new kite. The children have a lot of fun making their own, testing each iteration, and repairing them. This approach also removes the pressure and anxiety of trying to avoid damaging their special kite. 

While throughout the week children will be exploring handmade kite designs, they are welcome to bring a kite from home on Monday to have one ready to go all week. But only if you have one and aren't worried about damage! The free-spirited and welcome exuberance of Riley’s Kite Day may not be the best place for it to stay safe outside of adult hands and the facilitators allow the children to experience all of the joys of kite flying, including the crashing. We will have several on hand during the week to catch that perfect breeze at any time! 

How you can help: we'll happily add any newspaper you've got laying around to our Kite Lab!

Hurricane Island Trips

May 22nd & 23rd

Earlier this week you should have received an email regarding your child's Hurricane Island Field Trip. More information will follow, but currently the top priority is for all children to be registered for this amazing field trip. If your child is not registered- they will not be able to attend this field trip. No exceptions.

Registration takes around 10 minutes so please plan appropriately. Registrations were due Friday May 12th so if your child is currently still unregistered, please make time this evening if possible. The email you received contains detailed registration information so please refer back there with registration questions. Thank you for helping us make this wonderful opportunity come to life for your children!

Order the 22/23 Riley School Yearbook TODAY!

Deadline to order Tuesday, May 16th

The children have been working diligently and excitedly (with help- thank you, Anna!) to consolidate all the memories of this wonderful year into one beautiful book. All that hard work has paid off and the Riley School Yearbook is officially available to order!

Each yearbook costs $10 and will be delivered on Field Day, June 6th. To get yours please ORDER BY TUESDAY 5/16!

Kim Bernard & Her PopUpCycler

Friday May 19th

This coming Friday Kim Bernard will be on campus with her traveling PopUpCycler!! We will be working with the children in the Art room to build a 50th Anniversary Celebration Art Mobile and we need your help. Please BRING YOUR COLORFUL PLASTIC BAGS TO CAMPUS - we need as many as we can get!

New Arrivals in

Riley's Spring Auction

Please bid generously & share widely!

Additional generous donations have made it possible to add six works of art by some of Maine's best contemporary artists, as well as some noted 20th century artists. Take a look and start bidding now.

A huge thank you to Caroline Saxe-Cobaugh for bringing this wonderful fundraiser to life!

Didn’t donate to the auction but still want to?

We are still accepting basket donations through May 17th so keep bringing your themed items to Becky’s office. Reach out to Caroline directly at Caroline.saxe.cobaugh@gmail.com for more details.

Adventures at Merryspring

This past week the Lower School enjoyed exploring the trails at Merryspring, studying the salamander eggs from the vernal pool and adding to the Fairy House.

Thank you John for being a wonderful guide!

Bike Day in Wade Acres

Tis the season for grabbing your helmet and hitting the open road.. But first, everyone needs a tuneup! Thank you to our special guest, Jeff Bergdoll, who showed our youngest how to care for their bikes and keep themselves safe.