Rivermont School Lynchburg North

Students arrive at Minnick School's Lynchburg campus after their public school's IEP team decides that a private special education day placement fits best. We serve learners ages 5 to 22 with emotional and learning disabilities, autism and multiple disabilities. The goal is for each student to return successfully to a home school or move on to life after school. The Lynchburg campus runs on both a traditional and a year-round calendar. Behavior support happens every day. Board Certified Behavior Analysts train staff and work with students, while Student Support Professionals, who are master's-level social workers or counselors, teach social emotional learning in groups and one on one and keep parents informed of progress. Academic instruction meets the requirements of the school divisions that refer students. Younger students explore careers through field trips and hands-on projects, middle schoolers build technology skills, and older students practice independent living, with pre-employment training through the Department of Aging and Rehabilitative Services. Because the Children's Services Act pays for placement, families are not charged tuition, and the referring district provides transportation. Minnick Schools carry Virginia Department of Education licensure and VAISEF accreditation.

Five Lynchburg women founded New Vistas School in 1986 as a private, nonprofit day school for children and teens with learning and attention difficulties. Since 1990 we have owned our campus at 520 Eldon Street, a two-story building with a newer classroom wing, a two-room science lab, media labs and computers in every classroom. Our teaching draws on current research in learning disabilities and ADHD, and our individualized, strategic instruction is grounded in the Orton-Gillingham approach. Students in our Lower, Middle and Upper Schools work on core academic skills alongside problem solving, organization and self-advocacy, whether they plan to return to a traditional school, go on to college, or pursue other paths after graduation. Middle and upper school students take daily art enrichment in our art studio, and classes use an outdoor garden learnscape for lessons from botany to creative writing. Our certified teachers also run Academic Advantage, after-school Orton-Gillingham tutoring for students and adults in reading, writing, math, SAT and ACT prep and GED prep. Families can apply for need-based tuition assistance, supported in part by the Lucy Guggenheimer Ross Endowed Fund. The Virginia Department of Education licenses our school.

In Lynchburg, Principal Tracy Pouncy, M.Ed leads Rivermont School Lynchburg South, a Virginia day school for K-12 students with autism, emotional disabilities, and related needs. Populations served on this campus span Autism, Developmental Delay, Emotional Disability, Intellectual Disability, Multiple Disabilities, Other Health Impairment, Specific Learning Disability, Speech or Language Impairment, and Traumatic Brain Injury. This site offers Applied Behavior Analyst, Educational Services, Individual and Group Counseling, and Individualized Instruction on campus. Rivermont Schools is a Virginia network of private day schools accredited by Cognia and VAISEF and licensed by the Virginia Department of Education. Rivermont campuses graduate Virginia diploma-track students whose IEPs cannot be met by their home district alone.