South+Kingstown+High+School+Fall+2015

South Kingston High School **215 Columbia Street** **Wakefield, Rhode Island 02879** **401-360-1000**



= = Introduction

South Kingstown High School, established in 1880, is located in the village of Wakefield in South Kingstown, Rhode Island. There are nine public schools in South Kingstown; four elementary schools, two middle schools, and one high school. South Kingstown High School is located approximately five miles from the University of Rhode Island's main campus. South Kingstown High includes grades nine through twelve. As of September 2015, the enrollment rate was 1,012 students. There are over 100 faculty and staff in South Kingstown High School, including 90 classroom teachers. Robert Mezzanotte is the current principal of SKHS. South Kingstown public schools are run by Superintendent, Kristen Stringfellow. This context statement will provide more information about South Kingstown High School

Community Background

To get a clearer perspective about South Kingstown High School, it is important that South Kingstown as a community is taken into consideration. Taking a look at the income and poverty levels of South Kingstown compared to those of Rhode Island and the United States is an important factor while learning about this district. This will show where South Kingstown falls in comparison. After looking at the income and poverty levels, we will look at the racial demographics and the overall educational atmosphere of South Kingstown. = =


 * **Income/Poverty** || **South Kingston** || **Rhode Island** || **United States** ||
 * **Median Household Income** || $73,780 || $56,362 || $53,046 ||
 * **Median Family Income** || $96,259 || $72,717 || $64,719 ||
 * **Pre Capita Income** || $35,855 || $30,469 || $28,155 ||
 * **All Families below Poverty Level** || 2.9% || 9.6% || 11.3% ||
 * **All People Below Poverty Level** || 6.6% || 13.6% || 15.4% ||
 * **Unemployment Rate** || 4.7% || 6.1% || 5.5% ||

(2010 Census)
Overall, this table tells us that on average South Kingstown is more well off financially compared to Rhode Island and the Nation as a whole. As you can tell by the poverty levels, South Kingstown's population is more financially stable than both Rhode Island and the United States as a whole. The unemployment rate of South Kingstown matches the rest of the income and poverty data as it is less than that of Rhode Island and the United States. Overall, South Kingstown is a community that is fairly affluent, with its citizens making a stable amount of money.

Next, we will cover the racial demographics of South Kingstown.

(2010 Census)
 * **Racial Demographics** || **South Kingstown** || **Rhode Island** || **United States** ||
 * **White** || 90.9% || 81.4% || 74% ||
 * **Black/ African America** || 2.2% || 6.3% || 12.6% ||
 * **Asian** || 2.7% || 3.1% || 4.9% ||
 * **Hispanic or Latino** || 2.8% || 12.9% || 16.6% ||
 * **American Indian and Alaska Native** || 1.2% || 0.4% || 0.8% ||

South Kingstown is less diverse than both Rhode Island and the United States as a whole. The community is primarily white and lacks high percentages of minorities. For example, In the United States as a whole, 74% of the community is white, whereas, in South Kingstown, 90.9% of its citizens is white. That leaves less than 10% of the town's population as minorities. The other races include, Black/ African American (2.2%), Asian (2.7%), Hispanic or Latino (2.8%), and American Indian/ Alaska Native (1.2%). Surprisingly, American Indian/ Alaska Native have a higher percentage in South Kingstown than in both Rhode Island and the United States.

South Kingstown has a child population of 5,416. Of these children, 20% live in a single- parent family, which is about 10% less than in Rhode Island as a whole.


 * **Education** || **South Kingstown** || **Rhode Island** ||
 * **Public School Enrollment (total)**
 * 2014** || 3,321 || 141,959 ||
 * **Public School Enrollment (% low-income)** || 19% || 47% ||
 * **Chronic Absence in High School** || 12% || 24% ||
 * **Suspension Rate** || 14% || 22% ||
 * **High School Graduation Rate** || 91% || 81% ||

(RI Kids Count 2012-2013)

South Kingstown has a lower rate of low income students than in Rhode Island. This was to be expected as in our previous data we could see that South Kingstown has a higher income rate than Rhode Island on average. Moreover, South Kingstown has a much lower chronic absence rate in high school and suspension rate. The high school graduation rate is 10% higher than the rest of Rhode Island. Overall, the education system in this community seem to produce successful and present students.

District Summary

In this section of our context statement we will be discussing district data. On average, South Kingstown's students have scored a great deal higher on all statewide assessments than compare to the rest of Rhode Island. South Kingstown's students attendance rates are about the same as the statewide average. It is important to look at these statistics because they will show how South Kingstown's district compares to statewide testing and attendance rates.

First we will look at the qualifications of teachers in the district and the student to teacher ratio. (Infoworks 2013)
 * **Qualifications and Teacher-**
 * student Ratio** || **Rhode Island** || **South Kingstown** || **Barrington** || **Central Falls** ||
 * **Classes Taught by Not Highly**
 * Qualified Teachers**
 * (All Schools)** || 1% || 0% || 0% || 4% ||
 * **Teachers with Emergency Certification** || 1% || 0% || 0% || 4% ||
 * **Teacher- Student Ratio ( Classroom**
 * Teachers)** || 1:14 || 1:13 || 1:14 || 1:14 ||

There are 3,321 students in South Kingstown's school district. The district employs 431 teachers. The student to teacher ratio is South Kingston is 1:13, which is lower than the student to teacher ratio's in both Barrington and Central Falls, along with Rhode Island as a whole state. Moreover, South Kingstown's teaching staff is made up of completely competent teachers, making it unnecessary to have teachers with emergency certification. The competency of the teachers have probably contributed to to success of the students that was mentioned in the previous section. Overall, South Kingstown employs qualified teachers and has a standard teacher to student ratio.

It is important to look at the attendance rate of South Kingstown's schools in order to determine the success of the students.

(Infoworks 2013)
 * **Attendance** || **Rhode Island** || **South Kingstown** || **Barrington** || **Central Falls** ||
 * **Attendance Rate**
 * (Elementary)** || 95% || 96% || 96% || 93% ||
 * ***(Middle School)** || 94% || 96% || 96% || 92% ||
 * ***(High School)** || 92% || 94% || 95% || 88% ||
 * **Chronic Absenteeism**
 * (Middle School)** || 15% || 6% || 6% || 27% ||
 * **Chronic Absenteeism**
 * (High School)** || 24% || 12% || 7% || 40% ||

This graph shows that South Kingstown has a reasonably high attendance rate. The attendance rate of students in South Kingstown is about the same as Rhode Island and Barrington and slightly higher than Central Falls. South Kingstown's attendance rate is 96% and the average Rhode Island attendance rate is 95%, showing that they are very similar. South Kingstown's chronic absenteeism in high school (6%) is a bit higher than Barrington (7%) and much lower than Central Falls (40%) and Rhode Island as a whole (24%). South Kingstown students typically attend high school on a regular basis.

(Infowork 2008-2009)
 * **Four-year Graduation Rate** || **Rhode Island** || **South Kingstown** || **Barrington** || **Central Falls** ||
 * **Percent graduated**
 * within four years** || 80.7% || 91.5% || 94% || 72.0% ||
 * **Percent dropped out** || 8.0% || 5.4% || 1.1% || 12.6% ||

South Kingstown has a 91.5% graduation rate, which is higher than both Rhode Island as a whole and Central Falls. Moreover, South Kingstown's dropout rate is 5.4%. This is higher then Barrington and lower than both Central Falls and Rhode Island as a whole. This is not surprising as the previous statics have shown that South Kingstown has a high attendance rate and produces successful students.

(Infowork 2013)
 * I**ncidents of Suspension** || **Rhode Island** || **South Kingstown** || **Barrington** || **Central Falls** ||
 * **Number of Incidents High**
 * Schools** || 15867 || 389 || 56 || 126 ||

South Kingstown has a significantly higher incident rate than Barrington. South Kingstown also has a higher incident rate than Central Falls. This is interesting because based on previous statistics, one would expect that Central Falls would have a higher number of incidents than South Kingstown. The number of incidents in South Kingstown is most likely related to the amount of students at South Kingstown High School. South Kingstown is a large school so the incident rate is most likely proportional.

School Analysis

In this section of the context statement we will look at South Kingstown's students success on the NECAP, SATs, and AP Exams, as compared to Rhode Island as a whole, Barrington, and Central Falls. South Kingstown seems to score fairly average on all of these exams compared to the other towns.

(Infoworks- NECAP Assessments 2013-2014)
 * **NECAP Assessments** || **Rhode Island** || **South Kingstown** || **Barrington** || **Central Falls** ||
 * **11th Grade**
 * Math** || 35% || 59% || 79% || 12% ||
 * **11th Grade**
 * Reading** || 81% || 88% || 97% || 53% ||
 * **11th Grade**
 * Writing** || 66% || 81% || 81% || 35% ||
 * **11th Grade**
 * Science** || 30% || 56% || 68% || 14% ||

(Infoworks- SAT Exams 2013-2014)
 * **SAT Exams**
 * (Averages)** || **Rhode Island** || **South Kingstown** || **Barrington** || **Central Falls** ||
 * **Mathematics** || 484 || 554 || 588 || 425 ||
 * **Reading** || 483 || 550 || 578 || 394 ||
 * **Writing** || 471 || 533 || 560 || 404 ||

(Infoworks- AP Exams 2013-2014)
 * **AP Exams** || **Rhode Island** || **South Kingstown** || **Barrington** || **Central Falls** ||
 * **Number of Exam**
 * taken** || 7237 || 269 || 544 || 134 ||
 * **Number of Student**
 * to take exam** || 4390 || 150 || 294 || 94 ||
 * **Exam Scored at College-**
 * Level Mastery** || 4143 || 228 || 492 || 20 ||
 * **% Scored at College-**
 * Level Mastery** || 57% || 85% || 90% || 15% ||

South Kingstown High School's NECAP scores seem to be fairly average. South Kingstown has a much higher math score (59%) then Rhode Island on average (35%). Therir math score, however, is significantly lower then Barrington (79%). The reading NECAP score in South Kingstown (88%) is similar to the statewide average (81%). South Kingstown's SAT scores are above average in the state of Rhode Island. They are very similar to Barrington and much higher than Central Falls. South Kingstown student scored highest of the Mathematics section (554) and lowest on the writing section (533). The amount of students that took AP exams in South Kingstown is above average in the state of Rhode Island. South Kingstown also has a much higher percent of students that scored at a college level mastery then in the rest of Rhode Island. Overall, South Kingstown's student score well on standardized tests. On average, students seem to score similarly to the state average on most tests.

Conclusion

South Kingstown is a very successful school system in the state of Rhode Island. When looking at the community background, you can see that most students live in stable households with a relatively high income rate. A good living situation has contributed to the success of South Kingstown's students. A large precent of South Kingstown students graduate on time. From looking at the district background, you can see that South Kingstown's teachers are very competent and the student to teacher ratio is good. Moreover, when looking at the school analyze, you can see that the students of South Kingstown High School have been successful on standardized tests and on average, have scored higher then then the state of Rhode Island. South Kingstown lays between Barrington, the most affluent school in the state, and Central Falls, the least affluent school in the state. Although South Kingstown produces much more successful students than Central Falls, it is just below Barrington. Compared to the state as a whole, South Kingstown tends to rank higher. South Kingstown High School is a well functioning high school in a stable school distict. Student tend to find a great deal of success in South Kingstown High School.

References //RI Kids Count//. (2012-2013). Retrieved from []

//United States Census Bureau//. (2010). Retrieved from []

Votta, P. (2013). //Info works! Rhode Island education data reporting//. Retrieved from []