Five of Barrington's six schools are 'commended'

BHS and Nayatt earn perfect scores from RI Department of Education

EastBayRI.com ·

Reports cards are out, and five of Barrington's six public schools earned "commended" status.

The Rhode Island Department of Education 2017 School Report Cards were issued on Thursday — a total of 28 schools across the state were recognized as commended, which means they are the highest performing public schools in Rhode Island.

Barrington High School, Barrington Middle School, Hampden Meadows School, Nayatt Elementary and Sowams Elementary all earned commended status. It was also the third straight year the middle school was recognized as a commended school. 

Barrington High School and Nayatt Elementary both received a perfect score of 100 on the RIDE composite index.

"As a community we should celebrate the accomplishments of our educational staff and students," said Barrington Schools Superintendent Michael Messore. "It is impressive that five of our six schools received commended status based on the state's established criteria."

The Rhode Island Department of Education builds composite scores by using two measures — student proficiency in English language arts and mathematics, and performance gaps for English language arts and mathematics. There is a third measure that differs by grade level: at the elementary and middle school levels, officials use student growth in English language arts and math, while the graduation rate is at the high school level.

"This round of classifications represents a transition for schools, however, as Rhode Island awaits approval of its ESSA State Plan submitted in September. Under ESSA, the statewide accountability system is expanding to include additional performance and school climate measures, including chronic absenteeism and suspension rates," stated a press release from RIDE.

Rhode Island is shifting to a new system of student assessments this year. This spring, students will be assessed using the Rhode Island Comprehensive Assessment System (RICAS) in grades 3 through 8, the PSAT in grade 10, and the SAT in grade 11. 

“I want to congratulate our 28 commended schools," said Ken Wagner, the commissioner of education, "whose performance, growth, and commitment to excellence represent the success we want to replicate in every school, for every student.

"We now look ahead to implementation of a new system of school accountability, which I believe will help us to better identify and support struggling schools, and to communicate with families about what performance outcomes and school culture and climate indicators mean for their children and for their communities.”

While Primrose Hill Elementary did not achieve commended status on the recent RIDE report cards, local school officials said all six of Barrington's public schools achieved an average scaled score of 750 or greater on the PARCC assessments. That means all six of Barrington's public schools scored at or above the proficient mark. 

Rhode Island's commended schools:

Barrington

Nayatt Elementary School

Hampden Meadows School

Barrington Middle School**

Barrington High School

Sowams Elementary School

Bristol Warren

Rockwell School**

Chariho

Richmond Elementary School

Hope Valley Elementary School**

Chariho Regional High School

Charlestown Elementary School

Coventry

Western Coventry School

Cranston

Orchard Farms Elementary School

Cumberland

Community School

East Greenwich

Archie R. Cole Middle School**

East Greenwich High School

Jamestown

Jamestown School – Melrose**

Jamestown School – Lawn

Johnston

Brown Avenue School**

North Kingstown

Wickford Middle School

Hamilton Elementary School

North Smithfield

North Smithfield High School

Providence

Achievement First Providence Mayoral Academy

Classical High School

Saunderstown

Kingston Hill Academy

Scituate

Clayville Elementary School

South Kingstown

Peace Dale Elementary School**

The Compass School

Tiverton

Fort Barton School**

** School was recognized as commended in 2015, 2016, and 2017