Primerly field report
a tuition-free public neighborhood school in Portland
9–12 · Public · Neighborhood · Tuition Option · Riverdale School District ▸ Neighborhood ▸ Out of district can apply for entrance AND interdistrict transfer ▸ If transfer is rejected, may attend by paying tuition as private school
9727 SW Terwilliger Blvd, Portland · Tyler Shelden, Principal
Riverdale High School is a small public 9-12 school in the Dunthorpe neighborhood of Southwest Portland, serving about 150 students on a campus at the foot of Lewis & Clark College on Terwilliger Boulevard. Guided by the principles of the Coalition of Essential Schools, the program emphasizes depth over breadth, personalized instruction, and high expectations within an intentionally low-pressure environment. The year runs on 3 twelve-week trimesters with students carrying 5 classes each term, and median class size is 12 against an Oregon average of 23. The Riverdale diploma requires 28 credits, 4 more than the state minimum, including 4 credits each in English, math, science, and social science, 4 credits across the arts and career technical education, and a capstone Senior Exhibition that students research over months and present publicly alongside a written paper.
Riverdale is an authorized International Baccalaureate World School, and beginning in 2026-27 juniors and seniors can pursue the full IB Diploma Programme, which the district lists as a distinct Riverdale IB Diploma alongside the standard track. Students who prefer to stretch inside standard sections can take an Honors contract in core classes and most electives, and dual-enrollment credit is available through the Portland State University Honors College and Challenge Program. Every graduate documents 80 hours of service learning across 4 years, no more than 30 of them earned inside the district.
Tuition: Tuition-Free Public (residents); $15,903 out-of-district if no inter-district transfer approval
Address: 9727 SW Terwilliger Blvd, Portland, OR 97219. Phone: 503-262-4844. Website: riverdalehs.com.
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Seats here aren’t first-come; they’re drawn by lottery. Each circle below is a tenth of the families who applied over the last two springs and stayed in the running (didn’t take a higher-ranked school). Filled circles got a yes.
Official PPS lottery results, 2025-26 & 2026-27 combined: offers made ÷ families still in the running (offered + waitlisted); applications cancelled for a higher-ranked school excluded. pps.net › prior transfer data. Slots reset every year.