RI's #5 School 2012: Barrington High School

RI's #5 School 2012: Barrington High School

Experiencing drops in NECAP and SAT performance from 2011's remarkable results, Barrington High School still outdoes most of its competitors in standardized testing and stays put at a #5 ranking for the second year in a row.

Most public high schools in Rhode Island would kill for Barrington's 2012 results: 93% at or above proficient Reading NECAPs, along with 69% Math and Writing scores. But in 2011, Barrington's Reading NECAPs were 95%, Math was 73%, and Writing was 74%.  On the SAT front, Barrington High students still averaged in the mid-500s (the highest average was an average 576 on the Math portion) and came in second to only East Greenwich High on all three measures. But all those results are drops from 2011. Is this a glitch or a trend? Time, and the 2013 rankings, will tell.

With scores that still sit at the top of the state's averages as well as the Top 10's highest graduation rate (96.6%), Barrington is largely relegated to its #5 ranking because of class size and spending per student. Barrington's student-teacher ratio of 12:1 is the second-highest in the Top 10, again, second only to #10 Classical. And its per student spending of $12,379 is the lowest amount in this year's Top 10 schools.

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Barrington continues to attract families from far away, seeking the platform the school provides, even with these relative shortcomings. Many are drawn, say parents, to the school's strong athletics program across the board. And, as Barrington-based Realtors confirm, the high school's reputation as a strong conduit to colleges only reinforces that pattern. For more on high schools and home buying, read here.

Barrington High School at a Glance

Enrollment: 1,150

Mascot: The Eagles

Famous alums:

• Providence Journal Sports Columnist Bill Reynolds
• PGA Golfer Brad Faxon
• Phil Madeira, an award-winning songwriter and musician, noted for his work with Emmylou Harris
• Judy Clapp, a recording engineer who has worked with Dwight Yoakam and Bill Frisell
• Brian Howe, film and television actor
• Marceline Hugot, a film, television, and Broadway actress
• Brett Quigley, PGA golfer
• Shanna Moakler, Former Miss USA, Playboy Magazine model and ex-wife of Blink-182 Drummer Travis Barker, with whom she featured in MTV's Meet the Barkers
• Spalding Gray, famous monologuist and actor
• Matthew Broome, amateur golfer, graduated in 2007, New England Amateur Champion
• World-renowned academic and skynet critic Henry Giroux taught at Barrington in the 1970s

For a printable version of RI's Top High Schools 2012, with the full chart of rankings and summaries of key articles, Download PDF