About

Ridgeway Elementary School Mission Statement

Ridgeway’s mission is to help each student become a self-directed, self-motivated, lifelong learner capable of meeting the challenges and seizing the opportunities presented to them during their lifetime.

Ridgeway Belief Statements

We believe:

• Successful learning experiences build successful learners.
• Parent involvement encourages and nurtures student learning.
• Children learn best in environments that utilize multiage and flexible grouping.
• Children benefit from being part of a learning community and developing relationships with a variety of teachers.
• Teachers must have the opportunity to learn and collaborate.

Ridgeway Philosophy Statement

Our integrated, collaborative learning structure underpins all that we do.

Our students are guided by teachers who work with them over multiple years in multi-age classrooms. In this unique setting, students learn from and teach one another, while also gaining insight into the interconnectedness of our complex world at an early age.

This supportive classroom environment also encourages creativity, experimentation, and even failure as ways for students to develop intellectually and socially.

During their time with us, our students develop deep relationships, leadership skills, a sense of independence and confidence. All of which help them to develop a self-motivated approach to learning which serves them well as they continue their formal education and move on to discover the opportunities that await them.

Ridgeway is a place for students and families who embrace...

• A student inspired/teacher guided approach to learning;
• Dynamic and fluid methods for delivering the state learning standards;
• Students being met where they are without the constraints of traditional grade levels;
• The philosophy that “success teaches success”—but success does not always have to look the same;
• An environment where students experience the whole school, not just a few classrooms; and
• The continuity and stability that comes from children being supported by the entire Ridgeway staff, not just select teachers, throughout their time with us.

Ridgeway Lottery Information

Applications for the CPS Elementary School 2025-2026 school year lottery are accepted in the Spring of 2025.

Click here to access Columbia Public Schools' lottery information.

If you need help with the lottery application process please view this video.

Tours for the families of prospective students will begin January 2025. 

RWE Administrators 

Taryn Brinlee
Principal
Ridgeway Elementary
573-214-3550
TBrinlee@cpsk12.org

Taylor Graves
Administrative Assistant
Ridgeway Elementary
573-214-3550
tgraves@cpsk12.org