Cole Middle School Named a RI Commended School

EAST GREENWICH, RI—Seventeen Rhode Island schools have been deemed Commended Schools by the state Department of Education this year, including Archie R. Cole Middle School for a second year in a row.

To become a commended school, a school must have students who score well on state assessment tests, have a narrow gap between low- and high-performing students and show continued steady progress over time.

At Cole, 96.4 percent of students took state assessment tests and the percentage of students who tested proficient was 78.2 percent for reading and 64.9 percent for math—notably higher than the state average.

Ninety-five percent of the student body must participate in state assessments for a school to quality.

It has been a great school year for Cole, which was named a National Blue Ribbon School earlier in the school year.

“On behalf of the Board of Education, I congratulate our 17 commended schools, which we have recognized not only for their excellent levels of student achievement but also for closing achievement gaps and attaining high participation rates on state assessments,” said Barbara S. Cottam, Chair of the Board of Education. “I want to thank the students, teachers, and families in these school communities for their commitment to excellence.”

Here’s the complete list of commended schools:

Barrington
Sowams Elementary School
Barrington Middle School

Bristol Warren
Rockwell School (fourth consecutive year)

Cranston
Stone Hill School
Orchard Farms Elementary School

East Greenwich
Archie R. Cole Middle School (second consecutive school, also a two-time national Blue Ribbon school.)

Chariho
Hope Valley Elementary School

Johnston
Brown Avenue School

South Kingstown
Matunuck School (second consecutive year)
Peace Dale Elementary School
Wakefield Elementary School

Tiverton
Fort Barton School (fourth consecutive year)

Jamestown
Jamestown School-Melrose

Lincoln
Lincoln Central Elementary School

Charter Schools
Blackstone Valley Prep Elementary 2 School
Blackstone Valley Prep High School
The Compass School

“As we continue our transition to PARCC assessments, we will have more and better information regarding student progress, closing achievement gaps, and school improvement,” said Education Commissioner Ken Wagner. “We encourage all of our school leaders to help their communities understand the importance of comparable statewide measures of student progress. Going forward, we plan to introduce additional measures beyond state assessments to help us improve the process for determining school classifications.”

Because the 2014-15 school year was the initial year for PARCC assessments, the 2014-15 PARCC results set a baseline. Under our accountability system for 2016, which the U.S.

Department of Education has approved, the only newly classified schools this year are Commended Schools. Schools previously in the lowest two classifications – Focus and Priority Schools – retain that classification for this year. All other schools receive no school classification this year.

For further information and individual Accountability Report Cards for each school, see:

www.ride.ri.gov/2015-Report-Cards