Barrington’s public schools aced the recent US News and World Report 2025 Best Schools rankings.

Barrington Middle School is the top-ranked middle school in Rhode Island in the 2025 Best Middle Schools list, while Nayatt School is the top-ranked elementary school in the 2025 Best Elementary Schools list. In fact, three Barrington elementary schools ranked in the top-10 and all four ranked in the top-20. 

Meanwhile, Barrington High School was ranked second on the US News and World Report’s 2024 Best High Schools rankings. 

“Outstanding teaching and learning happens inside every school in our district each day,” wrote Barrington Superintendent of Schools Rob Wargo in a district-wide email. “Our dedicated faculty and staff members provide exceptional instruction and a wide array of learning opportunities that foster our students’ growth and development. Our students have made a strong commitment to their learning and work diligently to achieve their academic goals. Recognition like this is the shared result of our students who put forth their best effort, our staff members who empower our students to excel, and our Barrington community whose abiding support provides the resources for such a high quality education.

“I would like to congratulate our students, staff, and community for contributing to our district’s recognition as one of the best in the state.”

U.S. News uses assessment and achievement data from the U.S. Department of Education to calculate its Best Schools rankings. Ranking indicators include reading and mathematics proficiency scores on state assessments, test results in the context of socio-economic demographics, and student-teacher ratios.

We’re number one

US News and World Report ranked 63 public middle schools and 167 public elementary schools in Rhode Island, and at the top of both lists are Barrington schools.

Barrington Middle School earned the top spot with a perfect score of 100. The US News list shows the local school boasts a student to teacher ratio of 13 to 1, a 61 percent math proficiency, and a 72 percent reading proficiency. 

Wickford Middle School in North Kingstown ranked second and Archie Cole Middle School in East Greenwich ranked third. 

Barrington boasts three elementary schools in the top-10. Nayatt School is tops, followed by Sowams School in fifth place and Primrose Hill School in ninth. Nayatt, Sowams and Primrose Hill service students in kindergarten through third grade. Hampden Meadows School, which services all fourth- and fifth-graders in Barrington, ranked 20th overall on the list.

Nayatt School had a student to teacher ratio of 14 to 1, while Sowams and Primrose Hill had a ratio of 15 to 1, and Hampden Meadows had a ratio of 16 to 1. 

Nayatt led the way in math and reading proficiency, with 77 percent in both categories. 

In last year’s US News and World Report Best High Schools list, Barrington High School ranked second in the state (behind Classical High School, which requires a placement test), and number 217 nationally among the 17,000-plus schools that were included.