RI's #6 School: Middletown High School

RI's #6 School: Middletown High School

Up from 9th place in 2010 to 6th in 2011, Aquidneck Island's highest-ranking high school continues a pattern of commitment to aggressive upgrades in testing and overall academic rigor.

The evidence: marked increases in NECAP scores across the board, credited to new programs that look for students who may be underachieving in core areas such as English and math, and then providing those

students with after-school or double-block classes to bring them above proficiency. The high school has also assigned a reading specialist to work with students at the 9-12 level who need the reinforcement.

These measures may end up affecting Middletown's graduation rate, which, at 82.7%, is among the lowest the state's Top 10.

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Middletown High School at a Glance

Enrollment: 688

Mascot: The Islanders

Famous alums:

• Sergeant Michael F Paranzino, class of 2006, killed on 5 November 2010 by an explosive device in Afghanistan

For a downloadable, printable version of RI's Top High Schools 2011, with the full chart of rankings and summaries of key articles, click here.