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The first day at Riverdale Elementary School looks the same from year to year. Parents escort their children, some with smiles and others clinging onto their mothers' legs, while some proud parents tote cameras to capture their children's first day back.

But this year, principal Carol Cantu said, is "more special than any other year."

"Is 90 years a long time ago? Who knows somebody who is 90 years old?" she asked the student body as they assembled for their back to school celebration on Monday. A few students raised their hands. "How many of you think it was a long time ago, that you can't even imagine it?"

The school is celebrating its 90th year of operating out of the same location, a fact which Cantu discovered while sifting through old documents during summer cleanup. She was making room for the school's increasing enrollment, up by more than 100 students from two years ago. Cantu came across old yearbooks, and then asked the town's archivist for details on the school's age.

The original school building was across the street near Riversdale Mansion, and in 1919 a new school was built on the current site. It was expanded and renovated in the 1970s.

The school was also celebrating 100 years of excellence. Cantu found a newspaper clipping from 1909 that named Riverdale as the best school in the county.

"And 100 years later, we're the best school in Prince George's County," Cantu said during the assembly. "[Superintendent John E. Deasy] may not know, so we have to tell him."

For the third year in a row, the school met Adequately Yearly Progress goals, which are benchmarks for Maryland School Assessments, statewide tests in math and reading. Last year, 72 percent of the school's population had to score proficient or better in the tests to make AYP.

"It's more than just the test scores," Cantu said. "I want the kids to have such pride that they already know they can do it for next year."

Four students who did well on last year's tests were selected to speak to the school about how they felt about meeting MSA goals.

"The students from this school had decided to dedicate themselves to pass this excruciating test," sixth-grader Ethan James said.

Fifth-grader Petal Baker said the school passed the MSA because of the hard work the students did last year.

Parent Cristina Saavedra said she was happy to see her children start the year at Riverdale Elementary. Her son is entering the school as a pre-kindergartener.

"He woke up really early," she said in Spanish. "He was excited."

Saavedra's daughter, fifth-grader Yesenia Lopez, said she was nervous to start the year and meet her new teacher. But she is hopeful she will do well in her classes with the help of her teachers.

"They work hard so that we could do good in school," she said.

Cantu said the year will be filled with events to celebrate the school's achievements and to encourage students to do well during the school's 90th year.

"This is a year of celebration," she said. "And every time we have something, we're going to look back and see how the legacy continues."

E-mail Elahe Izadi at eizadi@gazette.net.