In 1998, Mr. Fred Smith donated 46 acres of land to Johnston County Schools to support the county in building two new schools. Riverwood Elementary School opened its doors in 2000 for grades K-6. Riverwood Middle School followed suit in 2001/2002 receiving 6th grade students from Riverwood Elementary as well as adding 7th and 8th grade students. Initially, 614 students entered Riverwood Middle School with 37 teachers hired to lead instruction. The school was led by Billy Mims as Principal and Tracey Peedin and Nancy Parker as Assistant Principals. The student body president our first year was Quincey O'Neal. Some special events to remember were:
Our 2002/2003 school year brought many changes in the Raven administration with Patrick Jacobs taking over as Principal and Jenny Moore and Tonya Johnson serving as Assistant Principals. David Cupulo was also a classroom teacher while he completed his Assistant Principal internship at Riverwood Middle. The number of students jumped by one hundred, soaring to 710 total students. Along with the student increase came three additional teachers. The student body president was led by Dana Alibrandi. Some special events to remember were:
The 2003/2004 school year was also a very memorable year. Again, the student population and teacher numbers increased to 732 and 44 respectively. Patrick Jacobs continued in his role as Principal with Jenny Moore still by his side as Assistant Principal. However, Pam Williams was tabbed to fill the empty Assistant Principal position. The Raven student body was led by Marissa Boyce as president. Some special events to remember were:
As the 2004/2005 was set to begin, teachers were wondering if they would once again be given additional students; and they were. In fact, Riverwood three more classroom teachers and as the enrollment bumped up to 788. Patrick Jacobs and Jenny Moore were still in charge, but this time Mike Taylor was set to help out as Assistant Principal. The student council president in 2004/2005 was Ryan Abshagen. Some special events to remember were:
School year 2005/2006 was a special one indeed as we changed leadership in welcoming Phil Lee as the Principal of Riverwood Middle School. Jenny Moore continued as one of Mr. Lee's Assistant Principals and was joined by Marchelle Horner. Mr. Lee joined our Raven family via Smithfield Selma High School. Three more classroom teachers joined Riverwood as our student body increased to a record 912 students! Mark Parker served as Student Council President. Unfortunately, sadness marked 2005/2006 as Riverwood lost its first student Jessica Ferrara, in a tragic accident. Some special events to remember were:
In 2006/2007 Mr. Lee was joined by Sonya Grice and Chase Ferrell as Assistant Principals. Our student population increased to an amazing 1200 students as Riverwood had no free rooms available and up to three teachers acting as roaming educators. Our classroom teacher count rose up to 62 in support of all the Raven classes. Our Student Council President for this fun filled year was Nikki Gordon. Some special events to remember were:
Special Notation: Thank you to Ms. Terri Pelle for compiling this information. |