RI's #7 School 2012: Westerly High School

RI's #7 School 2012: Westerly High School

Westerly High School moves up again on its march deep into the Top 10, beginning at #11 in 2010, then up to #9 in 2011, and now up to #7 in 2012.

This year, Westerly made more bold upward moves in its NECAP scores, most notably gaining 11 points to go from 80% at or above proficient in Reading, to 91% in 2012. Two accompanying jumps of 5 points—in Math, up to 46% from 41%, and in Writing, up to 61% from 56%, gave the school a dual boost up the rankings. The high school also cracked 500 across the board for its SAT averages in 2012 (both Verbal and Writing were below 500 last year). Westerly High continues to get high marks for an exceptionally low student-teacher ratio (9:1). The school also continues to benefit from last year's increase in spending per student up to $16,222, the third-highest amount in the Top 10 (behind Narragansett and Exeter-West Greenwich).

High-tech high

Westerly is taking full advantage of technology, and recent developments include a brand-new "Bulldog" app that allows students to keep up instantly with everything from scheduling to district-wide news, and a state of the art video wall flatscreen outside the school gym. Further, Internet Protocol TV, or IPTV, allows streaming of television content (from education networks, of course) onto 78-inch smart boards in every classroom. The price? Westerly has spent $3 million on technology hardware over the last 3 years, but they aren't slowing down. Westerly Superintendent Dr. Roy Seitsinger Jr. recently told the Westerly Sun that the district is also anticipating a future without textbooks, and they are looking into leasing certain pieces to avoid early obsolescence. Foward thinking, for a forward-moving high school.

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Westerly High School at a Glance

Enrollment: 991

Mascot: The Bulldogs

Famous alums:

• Dr. Thomas DiPaola, Previous Director of RI Dept. of Education’s Office of Special Populations, former superintendent of Westerly schools, Director of Education Leadership program at JWU
• Henry Nardone Sr., Member of URI Foundation, distinguished Naval career, former facility manager at Quonset Point, RI Board of Regents
• Dr. Daniel Gaccion, Orthopedic surgeon
• Dennis Algiere, Current RI Senate Minority Leader
• Samuel Azzinaro, Current RI state rep
• Dr. Joseph Vitterito, Neonatology fellow at Dartmouth Medical School
• Dr. John Toscano, Professor of chemistry and Chairman of Dept. of Chemisty at Johns Hopkins University
• Daryl Finizio, Lawyer, running for Mayor of New London, Westerly City Council, 2006-2008
• Peter Lewiss, RI State rep, judge, lawyer
• Diana Blanda, Actress, singer member of Ocean State Follies

 

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