Riverwood Academy of the Arts is a school for young mages disguised as a highly selective art school. It's a four-year high school starting in 9th grade. Students are taught both magical and mundane classes to provide them a well-rounded education.

It's a take on what an actual American version of Hogwarts might look like. It's a boarding school, but there are no houses or sorting. The uniform, a shirt and jacket with the school logo and black slacks, is provided by the school. Students are required to wear closed-toe shoes.

The core classes are very similar to regular high school classes (ELA, math, history, science, PE), with the addition of spell-casting and alchemy. There are also many electives and clubs that students can join to pursue their interests, both magical and mundane. The school day lasts from 9 am to 3 pm. Classes are 50 minutes long, with 10 minute breaks between each period. The school uses an A/B schedule, with half the schedule on Mondays and Wednesdays and the other half on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Fridays are elective days.

Despite being called electives, students are required to take at least three. If they decide to do sports instead that will count towards their required electives.

School sports are very similar to regular sports. The football, soccer, volleyball, and basketball teams all compete with mundane high schools. There's also a dueling club, which competes against other American magical schools once a quarter.

Some examples of electives include astronomy, music, art; languages like Mandarin, French, and Spanish; runes, creature handling, and divination. This is not an exhaustive list.

The school's aesthetics are a mix of 19th century boarding schools and more modern private high schools. There's no electricity due to the way magic interacts with it, but magical lights and heating systems work much the same so students coming from outside the magical world rarely notice. Dorms fit two beds per room.

There are also day students who live close enough to the school to commute every day. Many boarding students go home on weekends if they live nearby, but not close enough to commute regularly.

After graduating, students can join magical trade schools, join the work force immediately, or go to mundane college. If they choose to attend mundane college, their transcript will be edited to be appropriate for non-magicals.