Frequently Asked Questions

River Tech School is a private Christian school of Performing Arts and Technology in Post Falls, Idaho, serving grades 1 through 12. We keep classes small, around 15 students each, and we integrate performing arts and technology with core academics inside a Christian worldview. River Tech is operated by Faithful Five Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, and we enroll both full-time students and homeschool families who want one to four days per week of enrichment.

River Tech is located at 927 E Polston Ave, Post Falls, Idaho 83854, inside The Heart. We serve families across Post Falls, Coeur d’Alene, Hayden, Rathdrum, Spokane, Spokane Valley, and Liberty Lake.

Yes. River Tech is a Christian school, and our faith is woven through the entire day rather than isolated to a single Bible class. Each day begins with prayer, worship, and gratitude. We do not promote one denomination over another. Instead, we follow C.S. Lewis’s “mere Christianity” principle of sticking to the fundamentals of the faith and leaving the finer details of doctrine to families and their churches. Our teachers are Christians, and our parent organization, Faithful Five Inc., is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded on Christian principles.

River Tech is a full-time school that also offers flexible homeschool programs. Homeschool students may enroll in 1–4 days per week and participate in select classes alongside our full-time students, depending on availability.

Yes. River Tech offers an à la carte program for homeschool families who want one to four days per week of enrichment. You can choose Monday Performing Arts, Tuesday Science and Social Studies, Thursday Life Skills, Friday Technology, or any combination of them. This lets homeschool parents keep the home-based core of their week while giving their child specialized instruction, community, and hands-on facilities they cannot easily replicate at home. Homeschool families are also included and invited on our field trip and workshop days, which happen about every three weeks. Many of our homeschoolers tell us this is one of their favorite parts of the program.

River Tech serves students in 1st through 12th grade. Class sizes vary by subject:

• Music and foreign language classes typically have around 7 students.
• Core subjects such as Math, English, and Science average 10–15 students.
• Group-based classes like coding or choir may include up to 20 students, in which case two teachers are present.

Overall, River Tech maintains an effective 1:15 teacher–student ratio, allowing for personalized learning and strong teacher–student relationships.

A typical week at River Tech blends core academics with performing arts, technology, and life skills each day. Mondays focus on performing arts, including music, theater, and dance. Tuesdays lean into science and social studies. Wednesdays are a full academic day. Thursdays are built around life skills, biblical worldview, and community. Fridays are our technology day, covering coding, robotics, filmmaking, and digital design. Every day begins with prayer, worship, and gratitude, and every day includes math, reading, and writing appropriate to the student’s level.

River Tech’s full-time program runs Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 2:35 p.m. The homeschool à la carte program runs from 10:25 a.m. to 2:35 p.m. on the days students attend. Starting in fall 2026, we will also offer an afterschool program that runs until 4:00 p.m. The school year runs September through May, and full calendar dates are published on our Schedule and Calendar page.

Competency-based learning means students progress when they have mastered the material, not when the calendar says so. At River Tech, a third-grade student who is ready for fifth-grade math is placed in fifth-grade math, and a student who needs more time in reading gets it without being labeled or held back. Teachers track progress against clear competencies, and students move up a level in each subject as they demonstrate they are ready. The result is that no student is bored because the class is too slow, and no student is lost because the class is too fast.

Each day here begins with prayer, worship, and gratitude, not as an add-on, but as the foundation everything else rests on. We teach children to love God and their families, honor their community and country, take personal responsibility, earn what they achieve, and build something of their own. We do not teach gender ideology, critical race theory, victim mentality, or cancel culture.

Read more about our culture →

River Tech offers hands-on learning in:

• AI and machine learning
• Coding and programming
• Filmmaking and video editing
• 3D modeling and digital design
• Robotics and circuits
• Digital arts

Our performing arts program includes:

• Drums, bass, guitar, piano, and band
• Acting, musical theater, and choir
• Dance classes offered multiple times a week
• Drawing, filmmaking, and digital arts

Students perform in theater productions, concerts, and performances throughout the year.

Physical activity is built into every week at River Tech. Students spend about twenty minutes each day on drill and calisthenics, which teaches focus, posture, and the discipline of moving as a group while building real physical readiness. Once a week we head to the park for additional physical education, and every three weeks or so we take a field trip that is often physically active, such as wall climbing, trampoline jumping, or roller skating. Our Athletics Director, Jerome Long, is a former NFL player (Kansas City Chiefs, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Dallas Cowboys) and a former wrestling coach, and he is also a certified math teacher who leads both our math and sports programs. At River Tech we teach sportsmanship, mobility, and mental toughness through athletics and fitness training because, in the words of Paul, “your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit” (1 Cor 6:19-20).

Read more about Sports & Fitness →

River Tech differs from a traditional private school in many ways. Here are three examples. First, we are an openly Christian school. Each day begins with prayer, worship, and gratitude, and faith is woven through everything we teach. Second, we specialize in performing arts and technology, which means students are taught musical theater, dance, and instruments alongside coding, robotics, and filmmaking. Third, we have an unusually strong school culture. We hold regular assemblies, take weekly park trips, run field trips every three weeks, and throw wholesome school parties together, which builds the kind of community that is hard to find in bigger schools.

Tuition for the 2026-27 school year depends on how many days per week your child attends and which payment plan you choose. On our standard quarterly plan, 5-day full-time school is $1,950 per quarter ($7,999 per year), and 4-day full-time school is $1,679 per quarter ($6,900 per year). À la carte homeschool enrichment is $365 per quarter for one day per week, $690 for two days, $960 for three days, and $1,199 for four days. Monthly and annual payment plans are also available, and our Tuition page has the full table. There is also a one-time household enrollment fee of $250 through June 5, 2026, or $300 after. A sibling discount is available for families with multiple children enrolled. Idaho families may qualify for the Parental Choice Tax Credit, which can offset a meaningful portion of tuition.

A friendly reminder: open enrollment closes June 5. Between now and June 5 you can still enroll in any program that has spots available. After June 5 our enrollment becomes greatly limited, and we can only accept a small number of additional students as space allows. If you are leaning toward joining us, this is the window to do it.

We primarily enroll students at the start of the school year (early September) and mid-year after Christmas break (early January). If your family is new to the area or has a unique situation, please reach out. We may be able to find a spot. Next start is September 1st, 2026.

River Tech has chosen to remain unaccredited to preserve flexibility and personalized learning that doesn’t always fit traditional accreditation systems. We provide official diplomas and transcripts, which are broadly accepted by colleges and universities.

Yes. Long gone are the days when colleges looked down on homeschool families and small private schools. Today most colleges actually welcome students like ours with open hearts, because the competency, initiative, and values of these students tend to be well-suited to college life. River Tech has several students who are already taking college courses while enrolled with us, and they have run into no obstacles along the way. We issue a formal diploma and transcript, all of our teachers hold degrees (in most cases multiple degrees), and we teach the subjects colleges actually care about. One example is our annual essay. Where most high schools assign one capstone project in the senior year, every River Tech student writes a full college-thesis-style essay every year, complete with references, footnotes, and the structural rigor colleges expect. By the time a River Tech student graduates, they have written four or more of these, not one.

River Tech does not operate a daily bus route for drop-off or pick-up. Families drop off and pick up students directly at our campus at 927 E Polston Ave in Post Falls. That said, we do operate a school bus and a school van for weekly park trips and for field trips, so your student still gets to ride with their class when we head out for the day. Because most of our families are within a short drive of campus, many parents also organize informal carpools with other River Tech families in their neighborhood.