Student Services
Guidance Office
Guidance Director
The Guidance Director is responsible for pre-registration and registration of all grade 7–12 students, as well as scheduling, course selection advice, transcripts, report cards, monitoring student progress, standardized testing (Stanford, PSAT, SAT I & II, and ACT), and communication with parents.
Email: guidancedir@rva.org
College Coordinator
RVA’s college coordinator is available to advise seniors as they navigate the college application process. Furthermore, the Guidance Office has abundant information on colleges, and college representatives often visit RVA, providing students with a chance to receive first-hand information.
Email: collegeandcareer@rva.org
Academic Support Services
Academic support serves students with special needs in all grades, K-12. Services vary from year to year depending on the number of staff members working in the academic support team. RVA’s philosophy is to support students in their special needs to the best of our ability, but we do not offer a full range of special needs services.
Email: academicsupport@rva.org
Peer Tutoring
RVA students and/or parents are welcome to contact the guidance office to arrange peer tutoring. Some tutors are paid, while others are volunteers; if costs are involved, the tutored student’s RVA account will be billed.
ESL
English is the language of instruction at RVA, but we are able to accommodate some ESL students. When possible, we offer ESL support, especially in the younger grades.
External ESL web links:
The following websites feature various activities to improve your English skills.
Dave’s ESL Café
Activities for ESL Students
English as a Second Language website
Randall’s ESL Cyber Listening Lab (This site contains activities for improving your listening comprehension skills at various levels of difficulty, and connecting links for improving your accent.)
Student Health
Student Health Services consists of a team of missionary nurses, nurse practitioners, and physical therapists providing routine and emergency medical care. A nurse is on duty or on-call 24 hours a day. The Student Health clinic is a 20-bed facility situated in the center of RVA’s campus. It is designed to provide a place for students to rest and recover from illness away from the dorm. Two treatment/exam rooms are used for procedures and physical exams.
Student Health Services works in collaboration with Kijabe Hospital, a facility located less than a kilometer from RVA’s campus. The hospital provides services in general medicine, pediatric medicine, surgery (general, pediatric, and orthopedic), and intensive care. A rotation of collaborating physicians (family medicine and pediatrics) provide staffing for a weekly clinic at Student Health for RVA students, and are available for consultation with Student Health staff 24 hours a day. Student Health Services can refer students to Nairobi for specialist care (ophthalmology, orthodontics, MRI scans, etc).
Our goal is to provide a healthy environment in which our students are able to thrive spiritually, mentally, and physically at RVA. With this goal in mind, the staff of Student Health Services works diligently to invest in the lives of our students. We believe that health care goes beyond the diagnosis and treatment of physical disease. Health is often best promoted by a hug, a smile, or a listening ear.
We encourage you to email us with any questions or concerns. Communication with parents is a key to keeping our students healthy.
Email: health@rva.org
Counseling
RVA’s counseling department exists to fulfill three main purposes:
- to provide preventative programs for our students,
- to support students struggling with issues ranging from normal transition to traumatic crisis situations,
- and to support and advise RVA staff members as they care for our student body.
Our counseling staff is passionate about providing excellent care to our students in order to help them avoid or deal effectively with difficult aspects of growing up and with concerns specific to the mission field. We deeply value our students and their families, and we are dedicated to helping them thrive in Africa and beyond.
Email: counseling@rva.org
If you have a concern about a student, please fill out the form below or email hubcoordinator@rva.org
Cafeteria
Our cafeteria staff provides well-balanced, nourishing, and delicious meals for our boarding students (and for station families, as needed). They cater for breakfast, chai time, lunch, dinner, and special events, serving students a wholesome and delicious variety of fresh foods. No frozen meals or processed foods are served to our RVA school family.
At each meal, students can choose a hot entrée and sides, and select from fresh fruits and vegetables, beverages, and desserts. Being ever mindful of the cultural and dietary preferences of a diverse student body, faculty, and staff, our menus are created exclusively for RVA by our Foodservice Supervisor and team.
Cafeteria Fun Facts
Full-time national kitchen staff
Meals served each day
kg of local potatoes per French Fry Tuesday
Locally-sourced eggs per week
Laundry
Our laundry staff washes approximately 70 large loads per week to keep our student body smartly (and cleanly!) dressed. High school and junior high boarding students drop off clothing twice each week, and receive their items back, laundered and folded. Laundry is collected from and delivered to elementary dorms.
The laundry staff also cleans maintenance and cafeteria uniforms, dorm rugs and curtains, and bedding/linens from Student Health. A tailor meets student and campus needs such as sewing dorm items and providing clothing repair.
