The Rhode Island Department of Education released its list of Commended Schools, and it included four of Barrington's six public schools.

Barrington High School, Middle School, Hampden Meadows and Nayatt each earned the distinction this year. It was the second straight year as a Commended School for Barrington Middle School. Statewide, just 22 schools were recognized for the department's highest classification.

Barrington High School named National Blue Ribbon school.

The Rhode Island Department of Education classifies schools by using an index based on four criteria — proficiency levels, gap closure, student growth and graduation rate. Points are associated with each criteria. Commended Schools have the highest index scores in the state and no achievement gaps; they are recognized because of either high performance or significant progress.

Barrington Middle School and Nayatt both scored perfect 100s on the RIDE index, while Barrington High School scored a 93 and Hampden Meadows scored a 90. Sowams School scored an 81.43 and Primrose Hill scored a 75.71.

"As we maintain our focus on continuous improvement and closing achievement gaps, Barrington is realizing gains in achievement across all schools and decreases in overall achievement gaps," said Barrington Superintendent of Schools Michael Messore in a recent press release. 

"Significantly, for the first time, four of our six schools have received commended status from the Rhode Island Department of Education. Congratulations to Nayatt, Hampden Meadows, Barrington Middle School and Barrington High School on this achievement. Of particular note, are the increase in math achievement at all three K-3 schools and strong efforts toward closing the math achievement gaps."

Mr. Messore said it was important to recognize the work by all the different people involved in the local schools.

"I would also like to recognize and thank all of our district educators, administrators, students and families, for their commitment to empowering all students to excel," he said.

Two schools — the Fort Barton School in Tiverton and the Rockwell School in Bristol Warren — achieved Commended status for the fifth year in a row, and three of the Commended Schools are charter public schools. Chariho Regional School District, Jamestown and South Kingstown each had two Commended Schools in their respective districts.

“I am pleased that we have identified 22 Commended Schools for 2016 — five more schools than we identified last year,” said Daniel P. McConaghy, chairman of the council on elementary and secondary education. “This is a sign of continued improvement among our highest-performing schools as well as overall improvements statewide on state assessments.”

RIDE Education Commission Ken Wagner said the state was developing a new classification system that "employs additional measures beyond state assessments."

"Improving outcomes for students is a responsibility we all share, and we encourage our school communities to review available data on student progress in order to support good teaching and learning," he said.

Scoring schools

The Rhode Island Department of Education classifies schools by using an index based on four criteria — proficiency levels, gap closure, student growth and graduation rate. Points are associated with each criteria. 

• Proficiency levels — 40 possible points — Student performance on the 2016 PARCC assessments

• Gap closure — 30 possible points — Narrowing the achievement gap between the lowest-achieving students in the school and the "performance standard for 'meeting expectations' on PARCC assessments

• Student growth — 30 possible points — Annual improvement for each tested student in the school

• Graduate rate — 30 possible points (for high schools only) — The rate for high school students in the Class of 2015

Note: With K-3 schools there is no way to measure growth (testing begins with Grade 3) so the points are awarded through a slightly different formula.

Barrington schools scoring

Barrington High School

Proficiency levels — 36

Gap closure — 27

Student growth — 0

Graduation rate — 30

Total points — 93

Barrington Middle School

Proficiency levels — 40

Gap closure — 30

Student growth —30

Graduation rate — 0

Total points — 100

Hampden Meadows School

Proficiency levels — 36

Gap closure — 27

Student growth — 27

Graduation rate — 0

Total points — 90

Nayatt 

Proficiency levels — 57.14

Gap closure — 42.86

Student growth — 0

Graduation rate — 0

Total points — 100

Sowams

Proficiency levels — 51.43

Gap closure — 30

Student growth — 0

Graduation rate — 0

Total points — 81.43

Primrose Hill

Proficiency levels — 45.71

Gap closure — 30

Student growth — 0

Graduation rate — 0

Total points — 75.71