Barrington+High+School+Fall+2012

Barrington High School

by: Emily Carlson

 Location: 220 Lincoln Ave. Barrington, Rhode Island 02806 401-247-3150

 Administrators: Principal- Joseph Hurley Assistant Principal- Nicole Varone Assistant Principal- Edward Daft

 Mission statement:

 The mission of Barrington High School is to equip each student with the knowledge and skills necessary

 to be a confident, cooperative, critical decision makers and ethical contributors to a competitive and ever changing world; this purpose is accomplished by providing an academically rigorous curriculum, diverse

 co-curricular opportunities, and effective instructional strategies which challenge all students to reach

 their highest levels of achievement.

**Community Background:**   Barrington is right next to East Providence and the Mount Hope community. It has an average population of people sixteen years an older of 12,542. Barrington is a relatively affluent community according to the 2010 U.S. census the median household income in Barrington is $94,300, which is higher than both the Rhode Island average($54,902) and the overall US ($51,914). This data proves that most of the families in Barrington are upper class and upper middle class. Another aspect of the US census that helps support that Barrington is relatively affluent is all the families below the poverty level. For Barrington the average is 1.7%, compared to the Rhode Island average that is 8.4%, and the US average that's 10.1%. This shows that a very small portion of Barrington families are struggling financially especially compared to the average of both Rhode Island and the US.
 * Introduction: **Barrington High School is located in Barrington, Rhode Island. It was established after its current building in 1950. Barrington High School was voted the number one school in the state, and was awarded the gold medal based on a U.S. News ranking criteria. It is also a "Nationally Recognized Blue Ribbon School of Excellence."

According to the 2010 US census Barrington is a community populated with 94.7% of its average citizens being white, with Rhode Island at 81.4% and US at 72.4%. There is a very small amount of Barrington citizens that are black at .5%, with Rhode Island at 5.7% and US at 12.6%. Which is a huge difference compared to the US and Rhode Island. The next largest group that makes up Barrington citizens are Asian at 2.8%, with Rhode Island at 2.9% and the US at 4.8%. The lowest ethnicity group that makes up Barrington are American Indians at .1%, with Rhode Island at .6% and the US at .9%. So because Barrington has a majority White community they do not have a lot of cultural differences.

The children in single parent families in the Barrington community are 13%, but the overall average in Rhode Island is 31%. showing that most of the families in Barrington have a two parent household. Which can play a big role for the 4,597 children that live in Barrington, because most children that live in a two family home tend to do better academically than those that have a single parent household. **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 190%;">District Summary: ** <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 180%; text-align: left;">The best way to compare the Barrington School district to other districts in Rhode Island is by looking at the standardized tests all the children in Rhode Island are required to take. The test is called the New England Common Assessment Program, which is also known as the NECAP test.

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 180%; text-align: left;">According to the 2011-2012 NECAP test scores, Barrington High School scores higher than the Rhode Island average NECAP scores. In math the average state test score was 30%, where as Barrington's average was 69%. Barrington's math scores are significantly higher than Central Falls test scores at 7%. Barrington scored an average of 93% in the reading section of the NECAP test, when Rhode Islands average is 76%, compared to Central Falls thats only 41%. Rhode Islands average for the writing section of the NECAP was 51%, where as Barrington is at 69%, slightly above the Rhode Island average. Compared to Central Falls that on average has a 18%. Science was the lowest average score for Barrington at 57%. It was also the lowest score for all of Rhode Island at 26%, and Central Falls at 6%. <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 180%; text-align: left;">The Property value per student in Barrington is $894,098.80, where as Central Falls is $196,417.72. That is a huge difference between these two towns. This just goes to show that the children in Barrington live in a more affluent community, where Central Falls has families that are struggling financially. Barrington Schools pay $12,379 per pupil expenditure, compared to Central Falls that pay $14,347 on their students. This shows that Central Falls spends more on one child's education than Barrington does. This might be partially due to the fact that most families in Barrington can afford to help pay for their school products than those in Central Falls, where the families median income($26,844) is much less than the family incomes in Barrington($84,657).

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 180%; text-align: left;">The teacher to student ratio in Barrington is 1:12, where as the state average is 1:11. Compared to Central Falls that has a student ratio of 1:9 Barrington seems to have more students in the classroom than Central Falls or they have more teachers. Even with the student to teacher ratio being different with these two towns it should be that Central Falls has the higher test scores, but Barrington beat Central Falls in all the standardized tests. It should be that the children at Central Falls has more one on one with the teacher and therefore should do better. Although, the teachers at Central Falls are 6% not highly qualified, where as the teachers at Barrington High School have 1% that aren't qualified. **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 200%;">School Analysis: ** <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 180%; text-align: left;">Barrington seems to be overall a well rounded school district. One way to compare Barrington High School to other schools would be to look at the average percent of students that graduate and drop out. In 2011 the percent that graduated in Rhode Island 77.2%, but Barrington exceeded that number with a 96.6% of their students that succeeded in graduating. Where as Central Falls only had 70.3% of their students graduated. Barrington also has a very low drop out rate with .3% of their students dropping out. But the state average is at 12.2%, and Central Falls at 8.9%, which compared to Barrington's drop out rate is relatively high.

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 180%; text-align: left;">One could also look at the students scholastic assessment test, also known as the SAT scores. Barrington has a relatively high SAT score with math scores at and average of 576, reading scores at 554, and writing at 547. Compared to the average that says the average math score is 482, reading at 482, and writing at 474. Then when is compared to Central Falls SAT scores with math scores at 374, reading at 381, and writing at 376. This goes to show that Barrington's students have learned the basic information to help them succeed in college. Since the SAT is supposed to show how prepared the student is to attend college it can be implied that many of the students from this town are going to attend college.

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 180%; text-align: left;">Another way to measure Barrington High School's success, or lack their of, would be to look at the percent of students receiving special education services. The average rate of children receiving special education in Rhode Island was 16% and Central Falls with a high percent of 21%. When comparing these scores to Barrington that has 13% receiving special education, Barrington is on the lower percent. This is one aspect that Barrington seems to not do well in. Barrington doesn't even reach the state average with a 3% difference. Barrington should work toward extending their special education services.

**<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 180%;">Conclusion: ** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 180%; line-height: 46.66666793823242px;">Overall, Barrington High School is a well rounded school. The students do well on test scores from NECAP's to SAT's. Although there are a few aspects where Barington can improve, such as, their special education services that are below the state average and their teacher to student ratio, it isn't terrible but could be improved. There may be a few downfalls to Barrington School's, but one cannot over look the fact that they have a high graduation rate and their students seem to do well, exceed and prepare them for the future, which is exactly what Barrington's mission statement states! <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 180%; text-align: left;">Referances: <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 180%; text-align: left;">InfoWorks Live website <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 180%; text-align: left;">US Census website <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 180%; text-align: left;">RI Kids Count website