Riverdale Elementary Welcomes New Staff Members
Hello everyone! My name is Mitchell Caffarini. I am going into my fifth year of teaching and my
first here in Riverdale. I earned my bachelor’s degree from Saint Ambrose, and currently I am
working on my Master’s at Northwestern Iowa.
This previous year was a busy one for me, because I got married to my wife Emily, and we
purchased a house here in the Quad Cities. When I am not teaching, I enjoy traveling, going to
the national parks, and teaching my dog Bernie tricks.
I am excited to be with Riverdale School District this year. Go rams!
My name is Cassi VanHoutte. This will be my 9th year of teaching and I have taught Kindergarten for eight of those years. Earlier in my career I worked for Child and Youth Services on the Rock Island Arsenal. I worked in several different positions within CYS while finishing my education degree at Western Illinois University-QC. I am currently working on my Master's degree in Early Childhood Education.
I live in Colona, IL with my wonderful family. My husband, Scott, and I will celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary in January. Our oldest daughter lives in Chicago and teaches preschool. Our middle daughter will be a sophomore at Illinois State University and our youngest daughter will be a sophomore at Geneseo High School.
I am very excited to have the privilege of teaching at Riverdale Elementary! I already feel so welcomed by the staff and I cannot wait to begin working with the kindergarten students and their families.
Hi everyone! My name is Taylor Hendrix, and this will be my first year teaching Pre-K at Riverdale Elementary. I grew up in Sterling and graduated from Sterling High School in 2015. After high school, I attended Sauk Valley Community College for two years and then transferred to Illinois State University where I received my degree in Early Childhood Education with an endorsement in Special Education.
Last year I taught Kindergarten for my first year teaching in LaSalle. I have now relocated, and I can’t wait to join Riverdale and the Pre-K team! Teaching littles is my passion, and I am eager to get in the classroom and meet my students this year!
In my free time, I love spending time with my family and friends boating, pool days, golfing, Sunday football, and shopping of course!
I am excited for this new adventure at Riverdale and to get back to doing what I love most, teaching the littles!