It's good to be the best.

Barrington High School students' SAT scores were better on average than those of their peers from across the rest of the state this year.

In fact, Barrington's scores on all three portions of the test — critical reading, mathematics and writing — were better than the averages for any other district. East Greenwich students, whose marks were second best behind Barrington, trailed by five points in reading, 16 points in math, and six points in writing.

Following is a breakdown of Barrington High School students' average SAT scores in 2015:

• Critical reading: 573

• Math: 588

• Writing: 562

Making the state's top average scores even more impressive may be the fact that Barrington had about 100 more students taking the test than second-place East Greenwich. In Barrington, 261 students took the SATs, while only 159 East Greenwich High School students sat for the exams.

"From my perspective, you have to be proud of the work that the students are achieving," said Michael Messore, superintendent of schools in Barrington. "We don't teach SATs. We teach the curriculum. Students obviously take the tests seriously."

Mr. Messore said he believes that there are a number of factors key to helping Barrington students score well on the SATs, including the teaching and learning that takes place in the schools, and the parental support students receive at home.

Barrington students also scored very well on the Advanced Placement exams this year. In Barrington, 292 students sat for a total of 625 AP exams. Of the exams taken, 574 scored a 3 or better.

At Classical High School, 503 students took 995 AP exams, and 515 of those tests scored a 3 or better. At East Greenwich, only 123 students sat for AP exams, taking 259 tests; 217 scored a 3 or better.