The Rivers School is an independent, coeducational preparatory school in Weston, Massachusetts.

History

Rivers School was founded in 1915 as an educational institution for boys in Brookline, Massachusetts. Robert W. Rivers founded the school and was its first headmaster. The Country Day School for Boys of Boston merged with Rivers in 1940, and the school moved to its present location in Weston in 1960. It became co-educational in 1989.

The Rivers School Conservatory

The Rivers School Conservatory was founded in 1975 by Ethel Bernard, one of the pioneers of the music school movement. She approached Rivers School with the idea of using the then-unoccupied former headmaster's house on the campus (now called Blackwell House after George H. Blackwell). It was first called the Music School at Rivers, then Rivers School Conservatory. In 1978, the Annual Seminar on Contemporary Music for the Young was established, with guests including John Cage (1983). All pieces performed are composed in the 25-years prior to each seminar. Recent examples include Matinee: The Fantom of the Fair by Libby Larsen. The Conservatory currently has more than 750 students, including a student orchestra program, jazz and chamber ensembles, music theory and composition, a marimba program, choruses, master classes, workshops, and private lessons for instruments, piano, and voice.

Clubs and co-curriculars

Notable alumni