Welcome to the homepage of Riverbank Language Academy(RLA)!  RLA is a public charter school located in the City of Riverbank, California. We are proud to be RUSD's first tuition-free school-of-choice located in Riverbank!  We currently operate as a school within the Riverbank Unified School District.  RLA is on a year-round schedule (Blue Track) on the Rio Campus located behind Galaxy Theatre.  RLA will eventually educate over 500 students in grades Kindergarten through Eighth Grade.  We are pleased to currently serve 290 in grades K-6 (350 in K-7 beginning 09-10).  RLA achieves academic excellence and the development of each student’s physical, emotional and social well-being through utilization of the 90/10 Dual Language Immersion model (also referred to as DLI), instruction in the arts and technology, and developing school-community partnerships.  RLA promotes high expectations in developing student potential where students are immersed, not only in language, but, in a rigorous interdisciplinary high quality academic program.  If you would like more information on RLA please feel free to contact us under our Contact/Interest Link.

Some First Year Higlights:

-Establishment of RLA Parent-Student-Teacher-Association                                                              *Pictures of RLA's First Year Moments: New Link! Take a Look-http://riverbanklanguageacademymoments.site.shutterfly.com

-University Partnerships with UC Berkeley and CSU Stanislaus(See CREDE under Related Links or at): http://crede.berkeley.edu/index.html 

-Student participation in establishing our school culture and identity through the Sense of Community Program (find out more about this program under our News/Events link)

-First Annual Multicultural Festival with over 500 in attendance and over 3 hours of student performances!

-Successful Kinder Readiness Program

Dual Language Immersion* in the Community of Riverbank:

Among the founders of RLA, are a group of experienced public school teachers who previously taught in a Dual Language Immersion program within the Riverbank Unified School District.  The 90/10 Dual Language Immersion program model provides intensive instruction in the minority language, in this case Spanish, in Kindergarten and First grade. In the 90/10 model, daily English academic instructional time increases by 10% each year until the ratio is 50/50 in both languages in 5th grade. The 50/50 ratio continues from 5th through 8th grade.  The creation of RLA was been inspired by the original Rio Altura DLI Program Staff who saw an opportunity to enhance the program through the creation of a charter school.  RLA seeks to expand the original Dual Immersion Program in an effort to meet the needs of the high percentage of English Language Learners (ELL’s) residing in the district and provide English Only Students (EO's) with a unique educational opportunity that they will not find in a traditional public school.  Ultimately, EO's and EL's who attend RLA will be prepared to meet the educational and professional challenges they will encounter in the 21st century.  RLA graduates will be global thinkers; equipped with the skills and knowledge needed to be successful in the next stage of their lives. 

*You will find more extensive information on DLI under our DLI Link