Riverdale High School is a public secondary school in Jefferson

Jefferson, Louisiana

Jefferson is a census-designated place in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, on the East Bank of the Mississippi River. Jefferson is part of the New Orleans–Metairie–Kenner Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 11,843 at the 2000 census...

, unincorporated

Unincorporated area

In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...

 Jefferson Parish

Jefferson Parish, Louisiana

Jefferson Parish is a parish in Louisiana, United States that includes most of the suburbs of New Orleans. The seat of parish government is Gretna....

, Louisiana

Louisiana

Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...

. It is a part of the Jefferson Parish Public Schools

Jefferson Parish Public Schools

Jefferson Parish Public Schools is a school district based in Harvey in unincorporated Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, United States. The district operates all public schools in Jefferson Parish...

.

History

Riverdale High School was established in 1962 as an all-girls, grades 10-12 high school, with a Scottish Lassie as the mascot. The school became coed in 1980 and the mascot changed to the Scottish Rebel. Grades 7-9 were added in 1986, followed by grade 6 in 1988, but the middle and high school programs were split into separate schools in 1994. With the separation, Riverdale High School adopted 4x4 block scheduling

Block scheduling

Block scheduling is a type of academic scheduling in which each student has fewer classes per day but each class is scheduled for a longer period of time . A student might be taking 7 different classes, but only 4 per day, and the specific daily classes would rotate through a changing daily cycle...

, which splits the academic year into quarters and uses a four-period day.

As of 2008, 15,000 students have graduated from Riverdale High.

School uniforms

Students are required to wear a school uniform. This consists of a Riverdale oxford button-down shirt, navy pants or red, white and navy plaid skirt, and either a Riverdale V neck sweater or Riverdale pull over sweater. No sweatshirt other than a Riverdale sweatshirt is allowed, and the sweatshirt cannot have a hood.

Campus

The school auditorium was renamed Morris Block Auditorium in honor of a deceased faculty member in 2002.

Extracurricular activities

The extracurricular activities consist of flag team, dance team, cheerleading, speech and debate, SBA (Student Body Association), GSA, Key Club, AFJROTC, National Honors Society, Quiz Bowl, TV Productions, 240 Gaming Club, Yearbook, Best Buddies, and African-American Studies.

Athletics

The athletics at Riverdale High School consist of baseball, softball, soccer, football, wrestling, volleyball, basketball, cross country, and track.

In Popular Culture

• The Lifetime film For One Night
  For One Night
  For One Night is a 2006 film is based on the true story of Gerica McCrary, who made headlines in 2002 by getting Taylor County High School in her hometown of Butler, Georgia, to integrate the prom after thirty-one years of segregation. It stars Raven-Symoné as Briana McCallister and Aisha Tyler as...
  
   filmed at Riverdale in the summer of 2005. The film starred Raven-Symoné
  Raven-Symoné
  Raven-Symoné Christina Pearman , known professionally as Raven-Symoné , or simply Raven, is an American actress, singer, songwriter, comedian, dancer, television producer and model. Symoné launched her successful career in 1989 after appearing in The Cosby Show as Olivia...
  
  .

• In the summer of 2006, the Lifetime movie Life Is Not a Fairy Tale
  Life Is Not a Fairy Tale
  Life Is Not a Fairy Tale is a book describing the life of American Idol winner, Fantasia Barrino, and her rise to national prominence...
  
  , which starred Fantasia Barrino
  Fantasia Barrino
  Fantasia Monique Barrino commonly known as Fantasia, is an American R&B singer, Broadway and television actress who rose to fame as the winner of the third season of the reality television series American Idol in 2004. Following her victory, she released her debut single, "I Believe", which...
  
  , was partially filmed at Riverdale High School.

• During the fall of 2009, Riverdale was used to shoot both interior and exterior school shots for Lifetime's film The Pregnancy Pact.

• In 2010, WWE Studios' Legendary (film)
  Legendary (film)
  Legendary is a 2010 drama film directed by Mel Damski. The film stars Devon Graye as a high school wrestler, in a cast that features John Cena, Patricia Clarkson, Danny Glover, Madeleine Martin, and Tyler Posey...
  
  , which starred John Cena, was filmed at Riverdale High School. Shortly after, the WWE Studios' film That's What I Am
  That's What I Am
  That's What I Am is a drama film starring Ed Harris and Chase Ellison. The film is directed by Michael Pavone. Its release date was April 29, 2011 in limited release, having been released on DVD about four weeks later.-Plot:...
  
  , starring Randy Orton
  Randy Orton
  Randal Keith "Randy" Orton is an American professional wrestler and actor. He is signed to WWE wrestling on its SmackDown brand...
  
  , was also filmed at Riverdale High School.

• In the summer of 2011, parts of the film version of 21 Jump Street
  21 Jump Street
  21 Jump Street is an American police procedural crime drama television series that aired on the Fox Network from April 12, 1987, to April 27, 1991, with a total of 103 episodes. The series focused on a squad of youthful-looking undercover police officers investigating crimes in high schools,...
  
   starring Channing Tatum
  Channing Tatum
  Channing Matthew Tatum is an American actor and film producer. He began his career as a fashion model and appearing in television commercials for Pepsi and Mountain Dew before turning to film roles...
  
   and Jonah Hill
  Jonah Hill
  Jonah Hill Feldstein , known professionally as Jonah Hill, is an American actor, producer, screenwriter, and comedian. Hill is best known roles for his roles in Superbad, Knocked Up, and Get Him to the Greek. He made his theatrical debut in I Heart Huckabees, alongside Jason Schwartzman and Dustin...
  
  were filmed at Riverdale High School. It will be released in theaters March 16, 2012.