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Santa Barbara, CA. (February 2025) – With Kindness leading the way as one of their school’s core values, The Riviera Ridge School celebrated The Great Kindness Challenge with a week of heartfelt and hands-on activities. From Monday, January 27th, to Friday, January 31st, Lower and Middle School students spread positivity with a new mission each day to help foster compassion. The Riviera Ridge School, which is certified and registered as a Great Kindness Challenge School, invited students to dress in the corresponding color that went with each day and rewarded students with stickers of the same hue upon completion.
This spirit of caring was not just confined to their campus. The Middle School STEAM² Elective Service Brigade also orchestrated a gift card drive to support families affected by the Eaton Fire in Altadena. After researching the challenges faced by families in communities hardest hit by the fires, the students identified gift cards as a crucial way to assist. Students collected donations from families, and the whole Middle School wrote cards offering genuine words of encouragement to accompany the collected gift cards for families in need. The school community was able to donate more than $1,600 dollars in gift card donations.
“At The Riviera Ridge School, we believe in the power of thoughtful, informed, and student-driven service initiatives,” Middle School Division and Service Leadership Coordinator, Rebecca Ryser said. “We use a design-thinking approach and form meaningful partnerships with small local nonprofits to give our students opportunities to make a direct impact. Kindness Week was the perfect moment for us to develop powerful ways to help our neighbors in LA with their immediate needs.”
Lower School students created thank-you cards for first responders who fought fires across Los Angeles, and Sixth Grade Service Learning students wrote cards and dropped off cookies for local firefighters, many of whom fought the fires in LA. The Riviera Ridge School also donated a dozen refurbished iPads through our partner InteLA to students impacted by the Palisades Fire.
“We don’t take an ounce of our educational experience for granted, and we wanted to make sure we were doing everything possible to help provide young minds who faced real devastation with the necessary tools to continue their education during this challenging time,” Head of School, Chris Broderick stated.
To cap off Kindness Week, the Riviera Ridge School hosted their annual Middle School dance. Proceeds from the dance went to fundraising efforts for Big Sunday, a grassroots nonprofit organization that helps create opportunities for service. More than $4,500 was raised by Riviera Ridge students in collaboration with students from Crane Country Day School, Santa Barbara Middle School, and the Anacapa School. All proceeds will go directly to support communities in and around Los Angeles.
“It’s all about modeling the way and instilling a spirit of service and a purpose beyond ourselves. It’s vital to our mission and vision for each of our students.” Broderick said. “We want them to know that they have agency and can always be the helper they want to see in the world.”
At Riviera Ridge, we provide student-centered, individualized learning in a joyful and nurturing community, inspiring academic excellence and valuing difference. The educational vision for each Riviera Ridge graduate is to empower individual potential, inspire purpose beyond self, and cultivate social responsibility as they prepare for high school and beyond.
For more information, email info@rivieraridge.org or call 805-569-1811 ext. 131.
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