Rankings on all Rhode Island schools have been released. See the Newport County grades.

Savana Dunning, Newport Daily News
·4 min read

Portsmouth schools beat out neighboring Aquidneck Island public schools in sports and academics, while Newport schools outrank their counterparts in diversity, according to Niche.com’s most recent K-12 school rankings.

Niche, an education analytics organization, released its 2022-2023 public K-12 school rankings in September. The organization claims to use a variety of data sources, including test scores, enrollment figures, civil rights data and surveys to compare the quality of local schools against one another in order to give them a ranking and grade from A-plus to D-minus.

Here’s how local schools fared:

Portsmouth ranks No. 1 among Newport County high schools

Niche recognizes 56 high schools in Rhode Island through its Best High Schools in Rhode Island list, and it ranks high schools with a more detailed scale than it does for middle and elementary schools.

High Schools are graded on nine factors: Academics, Teachers, Clubs & Activities, Sports, Resources & Facilities, Diversity, College Prep, Administration and Food. Grading is based on how each school performs compared to all other schools included in the ranking.

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For example, if a school receives an A+, it was exceptional in a category compared to other schools. If a school receives a B or B-, it was about average in that category.

Portsmouth High School (A-) 

Niche ranked Portsmouth High School seventh out of 56 public high schools in Rhode Island, two slots lower than its fifth place spot in U.S. News & World Report’s list.

In Niche’s ranking system, it scored highest in Academics and Sports, both of which received A’s, and lowest in Diversity (C+) and Administration (C-).

According to Niche.com's rankings, Middletown was tabbed as the 12th best high school in Rhode Island.
According to Niche.com's rankings, Middletown was tabbed as the 12th best high school in Rhode Island.

Middletown High School (B+)

Niche chose Middletown as the 12th best high school in Rhode Island, much higher than its U.S. News & World Report ranking of 20th. While it received an A- in both Sports and Diversity, its weakest categories were in Food and Resources & Facilities.

Rogers High School (B) 

Rogers High School in Newport, which landed as the 23rd best high school in Rhode Island, was the only high school in Newport County to receive an A+ in any category — for its Diversity. It also was counted as the fifth most diverse public high school in Rhode Island, according to Niche.

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However, the high school received C’s for Administration, Food and Resources & Facilities, bringing down its overall score. U.S. News & World Report ranked Rogers 30th in its Best High Schools in Rhode Island list.

Tiverton High School (B)

Although ranked No. 17 in Rhode Island by U.S. News & World Report, it sits as Niche’s 26th best high school in Rhode Island. It scored the best in Sports, with an A-, but received a C- for both Administration and Food.

Jamestown's Lawn School grades high among middle schools

Niche lists 61 public middle schools in Rhode Island, but caps its “Best Middle Schools in Rhode Island” list at 33. Only one school, Thompson Middle School in Newport, failed to make this list. Yet Thompson was ranked the most diverse middle school in Rhode Island.

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Schools were graded based on the quality of their Academics, Diversity and Teachers compared to other schools in the list. Here's the breakdown:

  • No. 9 Lawn School, Jamestown (A-)

  • No. 11 Portsmouth Middle School, Portsmouth (A-)

  • No. 23 Gaudet Middle School, Middletown (B)

  • No. 29 Tiverton Middle School. Tiverton(B)

  • (unranked) Thompson Middle School, Newport (B-)

Portsmouth's Melville Elementary ranked No. 22 in state

Of the 169 public elementary schools Niche lists in Rhode Island, three of Newport County’s 10 did not make the cut in its 80-school list of “Best Public Elementary Schools in Rhode Island.”

Melville Elementary School in Portsmouth is the top-ranked elementary school according to Niche.com's 2022-2023 public K-12 school rankings released in September.
Melville Elementary School in Portsmouth is the top-ranked elementary school according to Niche.com's 2022-2023 public K-12 school rankings released in September.

Pell Elementary School in Newport received the lowest score, a C, though like the other two schools in Newport, it received an A+ in diversity and made it to the No. 3 slot of Niche’s “Most Diverse Public Elementary Schools in Rhode Island” list.

Like the middle schools, the elementary schools were ranked on the quality of their Academics, Diversity and Teachers in relation to other schools on the list. Here is the breakdown:

  • No. 22 Melville Elementary, Portsmouth (A-)

  • No. 28 Melrose Avenue, Jamestown (A-)

  • No. 38 Ranger Elementary School, Tiverton (A-)

  • No. 46 Hathaway Elementary, Portsmouth (B+)

  • No. 50 Aquidneck School, Tiverton (K-3, B+)

  • No. 54 Fort Barton School, Middletown (B+)

  • No. 80. Gaudet Academy, Middletown (B)

  • (unranked) Pocasset School, Tiverton (B-)

  • (unranked) Forest Avenue Elementary, Middletown (B-)

  • (unranked) Pell Elementary, Newport  (C)

Little Compton receives a B grade

Wilbur & McMahon Schools, which received an overall rank of “B” by Niche, teaches Kindergarten through Eighth grade in Little Compton. It was ranked as the 27th best public middle school and the 67th best public elementary school in Rhode Island.

This article originally appeared on Newport Daily News: Niche school rankings: How Newport County RI school stack up