The challenge: A system that needed to meet the needs of 500 unique students
Rivermont Schools is Virginia’s largest private therapeutic day school system, supporting 500 students across 17 schools, ages 5–22, with complex emotional, behavioral, and educational needs for more than 40 years. Known for its high standards and individualized approach, Rivermont continuously evaluates its systems to ensure they support responsive, data-informed instruction at scale.
As the organization evolved, its legacy data platform wasn’t able to scale to match the flexibility and real-time visibility Rivermont’s teams needed to support increasingly complex learner profiles.
- Operational challenges: Rivermont’s clinical and educational practices set a high bar, but their legacy technology challenges created friction for staff and slowed instructional decision-making.
- Limited program flexibility: The platform’s rigid structures made it difficult to build and adjust programs in ways that fully reflected Rivermont’s individualized teaching models and diverse learner needs.
- Delayed data visibility: Data synchronization delays meant staff often worked without real-time performance information, extending their time to make instructional adjustments.
- Occasional data gaps: Missing data often required re-entry, increasing administrative workload and reducing the time staff could devote to instruction and collaboration.
- Reduced responsiveness for gradual progress: Students who progressed more incrementally required closer, real-time monitoring. Without immediate feedback, it was harder for teams to fine-tune programs to maintain momentum.
- Alignment complexity: Mapping data cleanly to state curriculum standards and IEP goals required extra manual effort, adding operational overhead for teams focused on compliance and reporting.
- Reporting across counties: Rivermont works with multiple counties, each with different reporting requirements. Getting a custom report built for one of them cost over $2,000 and still needed manual editing before it could be used, so the team was looking for reporting they could adapt themselves.
“Our old software had a lot of limitations and we didn’t have all the data we needed to make quick, informed changes. We couldn’t see what wasn’t working, so we couldn’t fix it.”
–Kathy Tuthill, Director of Autism Services at Rivermont Schools
The solution: The platform that finally made sense
Before making a change, Rivermont Schools needed to be fully confident to take on a software switch that better supported learners without causing major disruption for school staff. They spent two years searching for the right data collection system, and a full year analyzing Motivity’s offerings before making a school-system wide commitment. They ultimately chose Motivity because they were confident in:
- Accurate, up-to-the-minute data: Teaching and therapeutic interventions are guided by real-time data, ensuring staff know exactly what each student needs. Adjustments can be made daily or even hourly to help improve progress.
- Individualization: Motivity allows goals and targets to be customized for each learner. Staff can design programs any way needed to meet a student’s unique needs or fit within curriculum guidelines.
- Ease of use: Data collection is simpler and more intuitive. Even teachers who struggle with technology find it easy to use and helpful in real classroom scenarios.
- System fit: Unlike the previous platform, Motivity supports both educational and clinical needs, without compromise.
“We hadn’t found a system that really fit our needs until we came across Motivity. What we're hearing from our boots on the ground is, ‘OK, wait, this makes sense.’”
–Kathy Tuthill, Director of Autism Services at Rivermont Schools
The results: Programs built to match how each student learns
Motivity gave Rivermont Schools the tools, speed, and support needed to support instruction, streamline program management, and stay fully aligned with state and IEP requirements.
Before Motivity
Data took up to 48 hours to sync, delaying program adjustments
Rigid structures made state curriculum and IEP alignment difficult
Support resources that were not deeply aligned with the unique needs of ABA and Special Education teams
Frequent syncing errors and lost data made progress tracking more difficult
After Motivity
Real-time updates allow immediate program pivots (>99% faster)
Flexible instructional templates and curriculum libraries ensure alignment and reduce administrative burden
Dedicated ABA and Special Education professionals provide hands-on guidance, monthly check-ins, and on-demand problem-solving
99.9% uptime ensures data is secure, accurate, and always available
“If you have any doubts, don't. Motivity is an amazing platform and the capabilities really are endless. I have not found anything we could not build out in Motivity the way we wanted to. It is making a difference across our system. And for our students, that's what we want.”
–Kathy Tuthill, Director of Autism Services at Rivermont Schools
If your schools are working across multiple programs, buildings, or reporting requirements, let’s talk.
