2024 Best High Schools in Rhode Island

What High School Paths Does Rhode Island Provide?

Rhode Island has 104 high schools, though compared to the average state (which has 486) it has 79% fewer. Despite this, per capita, Rhode Island still has 14% fewer high schools than the typical state, ranking it #36 in the nation. On average, all of the state's high schools rate a B–, mirroring the national average.

Most of the high schools in Rhode Island are public, 61 in total (59% of all schools). The median rating for public schools is a B, and 79% of them are traditional public schools. Of those 48 traditional public schools, a whopping 71% exceed the national average, with 34 such schools that are considered better than normal.

The state also has 12 charter schools, which ranks Rhode Island in the 17th spot for most charter schools per capita vs the average state, and 67% of those charter schools exceed the national average in quality. Additionally, there's a single magnet school, and it earned an above average rating of A.

In terms of private schools, there are 35 (34% of all schools) with a median rating of A. Per capita, Rhode Island has 21% more private school options than the average state, so despite its smaller population, there are still many private school choices. About 31% of private high schools in Rhode Island are religiously affiliated, with Catholic schools being the most common (total of 6). The state ranks 45th for most religious schools per capita, which means it falls below average in terms of how much religious influence there is in its school options. There are also 4 all-boys schools in Rhode Island, which is 123% (or 2.23 times) more than the typical state (after normalizing for population size). There are also 3 all-girls options in the state, which is 206% more than the typical state.

Lastly, Rhode Island also offers a single online school (just 1% of all schools). This actually ranks Rhode Island in the 32nd position in terms of online schools per capita vs. the typical state (it's below the average by 41%).