Riverside Military Academy is the southeast's premier college preparatory academy for young men in grades seven through twelve. Our mission is to provide a supportive and challenging educational environment that fosters scholarly competence and intellectual curiosity, enhances spiritual and physical fitness, and develops leadership skills and the strength of character necessary for success in college and in life.

A former astronaut and teacher, Col. Guy Gardner took office in 2006, as Riverside Military Academy’s eighth head of school. Col. Gardner earned his bachelor’s degree from the Air Force Academy in 1969 and later earned master's degrees in aeronautical and astronautical engineering from Purdue University and in math and physics education from Virginia Tech University. From 1980 to 1991, Col. Gardner served as a NASA astronaut. He flew two missions to space as pilot of the space shuttle Atlantis in 1988 and Columbia in 1990, and he worked in various areas of mission support and space shuttle and space station development. After retiring from the Air Force, Col. Gardner served in several senior executive leadership positions with NASA and the Federal Aviation Administration. These include director of the joint American and Russian Shuttle Mir Program, director of the FAA Technical Center, and head of the FAA Aviation Safety organization.

Riverside's exclusive Center for Student Success teaches cadets the fundamental organizational and mental skills necessary for academic success.

Through the academy's military structure, cadets learn self-discipline, honor, and leadership skills.

School accreditations: SACS-SAIS