Susan Blockburger's interim year leading Riverview starts from inside the district, not from a handoff to someone learning the community for the first time.

Blockburger told EdTribune that Stan Stratton retired on April 8, 2026. She said she was named interim superintendent for the remainder of the 2025-26 school year that same day, then was named interim superintendent for the 2026-27 school year on April 21, 2026. The Riverview School District Board of Education announced that Stratton had retired effective immediately due to health reasons and that Blockburger, then assistant superintendent, would serve as interim superintendent for the remainder of the school year. The Arkansas Department of Education's superintendent contact list lists BLOCKBURGER, SUSAN K. as Riverview's superintendent contact.

For Blockburger, the transition is partly about stability after a longtime leader's departure.

"Having served as Assistant Superintendent for the past five years, I have had the opportunity to work closely with our students, staff, families, and community," Blockburger said in a written response. "Because of that continuity, we are well-positioned to move forward with confidence while maintaining our focus on increasing student achievement and supporting the success of every student."

A Start Built Around Routines

Blockburger's first priority for 2026-27 is not a new slogan. It is the opening of the school year itself.

"Our first priority is ensuring a strong start to the school year with clear routines, high expectations, and a positive learning environment across all campuses," she said. "We are focused on student achievement and will work to identify students' individual learning needs early in the year so that appropriate interventions and supports can be put in place as quickly as possible."

She paired that student-achievement focus with a staff-support message. "We also remain committed to supporting our teachers and staff as they provide high-quality instruction and meaningful opportunities for student growth," Blockburger said.

That is a continuity frame, but not a passive one. The work she described is operational: opening routines, early identification of student needs, interventions, supports, and attention to the teachers and staff who carry out instruction.

Enrollment Makes Staffing Concrete

Riverview School District^↗ET enrolled 1,017 students in 2026, down from 1,369 in 2015. That is a loss of 352 students, or 25.7%, over the data window. Arkansas district enrollment, summed across the same state package output, fell 2.2% over that span.

The latest year brought the district's largest single-year drop in the available series: 63 students, or 5.8%, from 2025 to 2026.

Those numbers matter because Blockburger tied enrollment directly to staffing and support decisions, while keeping the emphasis on students rather than the spreadsheet.

"We closely monitor enrollment because it directly impacts staffing and our ability to meet student needs," she said. "As a district of approximately 1,000 students in grades K-12, we are proud to offer a small-school atmosphere where students are known, valued, and supported by their teachers and peers."

The data does not explain why enrollment declined. It does show the scale of the work Blockburger will manage: a district still serving roughly 1,000 students, but with fewer students than it had a decade ago.

A Small District With Broad Offerings

The grade-level picture gives another view of that scale. In 2026, Riverview had 66 kindergarten students and 63 12th-graders, or 104.8 kindergarteners per 100 seniors. The high school grades together enrolled 316 students, while kindergarten through fifth grade enrolled 447.

Those grade counts are not a forecast by themselves. They are a planning snapshot for class sections, staffing, intervention support and the student opportunities Blockburger emphasized.

"One of Riverview's greatest strengths is the wide variety of opportunities available to our students," she said. "Through strong fine arts programs, numerous athletic teams, career and technical education pathways, and organizations such as Beta Club and Optimist Club, students have many opportunities to get involved, develop leadership skills, and build meaningful connections."

That answer is central to the profile because it connects the transition to the daily experience of students. Riverview's smaller scale is not only an enrollment constraint. In Blockburger's telling, it is also the basis for a school environment where students can be known by adults and peers while still having access to activities that make school feel full.

What To Watch

Blockburger opened her response by thanking Stratton, saying the district is grateful for his leadership and "the many contributions he has made to Riverview School District." Her own next step is to carry that transition through a full school year while sharpening the systems she named: routines, expectations, early supports and staff backing.

The question for Riverview is whether that continuity can help the district manage a smaller enrollment base without narrowing what students experience. Blockburger's closing answer points to the standard she wants the year measured against.

"We want every student to feel connected, challenged, and supported as they pursue their goals," she said.

Detailed code that reproduces the analysis and figures in this article is available exclusively to EdTribune subscribers.