River Islands Academies is now the fourth largest “school system” in the South County.

With 3,600 students, it has surpassed Ripon Unified at 3,297 students for that distinction.

Districts larger than River Islands are Manteca Unified at 25,000 students, Tracy Unified at 15,100 students, and Lammersville School District that serves Mountain House and nearby rural areas is at 7,764 students.

Escalon Unified has 3,062 students.

River Islands Academies is charted through the Banta Unified School District.

When the new school year starts Aug. 13, River Islands High will:

*be using its new two-story administration building that also houses the student and media center.

*have its first senior class including a  dozen students who were among the first kindergarten students at River Islands Academies.

*have an incoming freshman class of 300 students.

*make use of a recently completed community gym in an adjoining park while work continues on the first of two on-campus gyms.

The first phase of the River Islands High construction will house 900 students. The campus ultimately will have classroom space for 1,800 students.

The start of the new school year in three weeks will see the debut of 10 additional classrooms at the STEAM Academy.

The other two existing charter school campuses are River Islands Technology Academy and the Epic Academy.

Ground has broken for a fourth elementary school that will open in August 2026.

River Islands at Lathrop is a planned community for 15,001 homes.

Some 4,000 homes have either been completed or are in the process of being built,

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com