The first two years of Riverdale began at the present-day site of Dunbar High School.

Riverdale was located in this area for approximately two years while the current site was still in construction.

Riverdale High School offers the International Baccalaureate program, Advanced Placement, dual enrollment, vocational, honors and general education classes.

[2] Several Riverdale High students attracted national notoriety as members of a self-styled teen militia called the Lords of Chaos.

They went on a crime spree culminating in the murder of Mark Schwebes, Riverdale High School's band director, on April 30, 1996.