Barrington High School continues to earn a spot near the top of the annual U.S. News and World Report “Best High School” list.

This year, Barrington High School was ranked 308 — the report analyzed data from more than 24,000 high schools from across the country. Barrington Superintendent of Schools Michael Messore shared the good news in a district-wide email recently.

“I would like to congratulate the staff of Barrington High School and all of the staff members throughout Barrington Public Schools who have contributed in Barrington High School, once again, being recognized as one of the best high schools in the nation,” Messore wrote.

“I would also like to give credit to our students for their hard work and commitment to learning and to our community for providing the necessary supports and resources our district needs in order to provide our students with a high quality education.”

Barrington High School has built a reputation for earning a strong ranking in the U.S. News and World Report’s “Best High Schools” list. 

In 2016, Barrington High School was ranked 400. In 2017, BHS earned a rank of 417, and a year later Barrington High School was ranked 316. In 2019, Barrington High School cracked the top-200 in the national rankings, finishing at 189, and in 2021, the report ranked BHS number 289 in the country. 

In a followup interview, Messore said he was pleased to see Barrington High School, and the district as a whole, earn the recognition. 

“We’re very pleased,” Messore said. “We also know we can do better.”

Barrington High School was the second highest-ranked school in the state. Classical High School in Providence ranked 91. Rounding out the top-five for Rhode Island high schools was East Greenwich in third place for the state (number 411 nationally), North Kingstown Sr. High School in fourth (number 1,185 nationally), and Portsmouth High School number five in Rhode Island (1,204 nationally). 

The schools are ranked on a series of criteria, including student performance on state assessments, the school’s graduation rate, the performance of disadvantaged students compared to the state averages, and student preparation for college. 

Following is a breakdown of the data used to rank Barrington High School: 

• Took at least one AP Exam — 66 percent

• Passed at least one AP Exam — 59 percent

• Math proficiency — 77 percent

• Reading proficiency — 89 percent

• Science proficiency — 55 percent

• Graduation rate — 96 percent

No STEM ranking

Barrington High School failed to earn a ranking for its STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) program in this year’s U.S. News and World Report “Best High School” list.

Barrington High School had ranked as high as 43 in STEM nationally in previous lists. Messore said he wants to know the reason BHS dropped from the STEM rankings.

“My question is ‘Why?’” Messore said. “What do we need to do to get that recognition back? 

“I’m looking into it.”