Rivermont Collegiate, formerly St. Katharine's/St. Mark's School, is a

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college preparatory school A college-preparatory school (often shortened to prep school, preparatory school, college prep school or college prep academy) is a type of secondary school. The term refers to public, private independent or parochial schools primarily design ...

for students two years old through

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, located in the

Quad Cities The Quad Cities is a region of five cities (originally Tri-Cities, later four, see #History, History) in the U.S. states of Iowa and Illinois: Davenport, Iowa, Davenport and Bettendorf, Iowa, Bettendorf (the fifth to be included) in southeaster ...

in Bettendorf, Iowa, in the United States. Rivermont Collegiate is a member of the

National Association of Independent Schools The National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) is a U.S.-based membership organization for private, nonprofit, K-12 schools. Founded in 1962, NAIS represents independent schools and associations in the United States, including day, board ...

(NAIS), specifically the

Independent Schools Association of the Central States Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

(ISACS), the

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(CEEB), Council for Advance and Support of Education (CASE), and the

National Honor Society The National Honor Society (NHS) is one of the oldest, largest, and most widely recognized cocurricular student organizations in American high schools, with 1.4 million members. The purpose of the NHS is to create enthusiasm for scholarship, to ...

(NHS). The school currently resides on the former property of Joseph Bettendorf, namesake of the city.

History

In 1846, a group of transplanted New England

Congregationalists Congregationalism (also Congregational Churches or Congregationalist Churches) is a Reformed Christian (Calvinist) tradition of Protestant Christianity in which churches practice congregational government. Each congregation independently a ...

with a strong social-reformer orientation formed the Trustees of Iowa College. Although founded in

Davenport Davenport may refer to: Places Australia *Davenport, Northern Territory, a locality *Hundred of Davenport, cadastral unit in South Australia **Davenport, South Australia, suburb of Port Augusta **District Council of Davenport, former local govern ...

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, Iowa College moved from its

location to the town of Grinnell after being invited by

Josiah Bushnell Grinnell Josiah Bushnell Grinnell (December 22, 1821 – March 31, 1891) was a U.S. Congressman from Iowa's 4th congressional district, an ordained Congregational minister, radical abolitionist, one of the founders of Grinnell, Iowa and benefactor of Grin ...

to move to his newly founded town, located at the intersection of two major railroads. The

location was later renamed to Griswold College, after Bishop Alexander Viets Griswold of the Eastern

Diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, prov ...

of the Episcopal Church. Griswold College began growing slowly, adding a theological department, and Kemper Hall (which served as a boys' school). In 1883, the trustees of Griswold College received a legacy from the estate of Miss Sarah Burr (an eastern churchwoman), for the establishment of a Church School for

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girls in the

Episcopal Episcopal may refer to: *Of or relating to a bishop, an overseer in the Christian church *Episcopate, the see of a bishop – a diocese *Episcopal Church (disambiguation), any church with "Episcopal" in its name ** Episcopal Church (United States ...

. These funds were invested in Cambria Place, a magnificent residence designed by a famous architect (who designed the

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and the

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), with five acres of land, high on a

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overlooking the Mississippi River in

. On September 24, 1884, Bishop William Stevens Perry founded St. Katharine's School, which was placed high among

s in the country. Meanwhile, Griswold college, theological department and boys' school were forced to close in the 1890s. The school was originally organized as St. Katharine's School, an Episcopal boarding and day school for girls. Located at 10th and Tremont Streets in

, for over eighty years the school educated local girls as well as those from afar. However, St. Katharine's later dropped its boarding program, became

co-educational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...

, in 1968 adding St. Mark's to its name to reflect the change. In 1973, St. Katharine's St. Mark's moved to its current location, the former home of Joseph Bettendorf, and by 1980, the school amicably broke ties with the Episcopal Church. In 2001, the board of trustees voted to change the name of the school to Rivermont Collegiate, in order to reduce confusion about its

religious affiliation Religious identity is a specific type of identity formation. Particularly, it is the sense of group membership to a religion and the importance of this group membership as it pertains to one's self-concept. Religious identity is not necessarily the ...

The early days

The girls who attended St. Katharine's were subject to strict rules. Students were not allowed to have books, magazines, or newspapers delivered without the principal's permission. Students could not keep any food except for fruit. Students couldn't go to town without a parent or teacher, and no student could spend the night out of the building. The only time students could go home was on Thursdays, but only till 8:00 p.m. They couldn't even spend Sundays at home. The girls were not allowed to wear jewelry, big dresses or silk dresses. Also, one hour of exercise was required every day. In 1910, the taxpayers of Davenport gave an observatory and telescope to the school but it burned to the ground in a fire. Meanwhile, local industrialist Joseph Bettendorf was building his dream house, which later became the signature building of Rivermont Collegiate. Mr. Bettendorf, whose Bettendorf Company manufactured truck frames for railroad cars, helped draw the plans for an English Manor style mansion on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi River. In 1915, he supervised construction of the mansion, complete with a sweeping terraced lawn overlooking the Mississippi. Designed for entertaining railroad executives and community members, the house included a stained glass domed conservatory, formal dining room, parlor, music room, and billiard room. The second floor contained several bedrooms, a large sitting room and servant quarters. A ballroom was located on the third floor, and at one time two bowling alleys were located in the basement. Craftsmen added Italian marble, carved stone, molded plaster and hand-carved woodwork, doors, paneling and staircases throughout the home.

The campus

Rivermont Collegiate campus consists of five buildings on the former Joseph Bettendorf property: The Mansion, which is the former home of Joseph Bettendorf, now houses

upper school Upper schools in the UK are usually schools within secondary education. Outside England, the term normally refers to a section of a larger school. England The three-tier model Upper schools are a type of secondary school found in a minority ...

and

middle school Middle school, also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school, is an educational stage between primary school and secondary school. Afghanistan In Afghanistan, middle school includes g ...

classes, as well as administrative offices. The Carriage House, formerly Joseph Bettendorf's garage, is now rebuilt as a boarding house for boarding students. The ribbon cutting for the opening of the rebuilt Carriage House was on July 31, 2017. Becherer Hall was completed in 1999 and houses the

lower school Three-tier education refers to those structures of schooling, which exist in some parts of England, where pupils are taught in three distinct school types as they progress through the education system. Terminology In a three-tier local educa ...

and early childhood program, as well as the auditorium and cafeteria. The Gym serves as a basketball and volleyball court. It was added to the mansion in 1974. The STEAM Center was completed in 2019 on the old site of the Wallace House, which was demolished on December 19, 2017. This building includes science, technology, engineering, art, and math classrooms on the first 2 levels, as well as 2 floors capable of holding 32 dorm students, in a 22,000 square foot space. It was estimated to cost $6 million.

Notable people

* Alejandra Lillo, designer * Louise Meiszner, pianist

References

External links