Need Warwick area info for impending relocation

[GermanSpy]

Originally Posted by emilybh

I think your kids would be more comfortable in a parochial school or private country day school. At least there, they'll be around kids who like school and want to learn.

Statements like above take away every kind of credibility you try to establish on these boards. At this point I must agree with those people who claim you only come here to slam the Rhode Island Public Education system instead of providing any kind of useful information to those who seek it.

[traceyr13]

If you insist on using standardized tests and evaluation to judge Rhode Island public education, then let's use the NCLB ranking system (which, like most educators, I abhor, but for the sake of argument of standardized evaluation as compared to the other 49 states, let's use it).

According to these federal standards that have standardized criteria and evaluative measures, Rhode Island, in 2007, has 128 highly performing elementary schools and 43 highly performing middle schools. In comparison, RI only has 17 elementary schools and 10 middle schools rated as "insufficient progress".

The 2007 data is not out yet, but from 2006, 83.8% of all students in RI met the national standards for ELA, and 72.5% of all students met the standards in math. The national target for high school graduation is 75.3%, and Rhode Island's graduation rate is 85.2%. And that is with 97% of students being evaluated, so the data is a fairly accurate representation of the students, unlike other states who skew their data due to...interesting...student body data.

Honestly, it's incredibly misleading and tiresome to hear one poster constantly use a few personal accounts and one set of data from a debatable website that is not endorsed by any valid educational group. I got those statistics from the Rhode Island Department of Education website.

[jtgorham]

The best place to live is in the exclusive Oakland Beach section of Warwick.

[mr2448]

Originally Posted by jtgorham

The best place to live is in the exclusive Oakland Beach section of Warwick.

Oakland Beach is a "working man's" community right on upper Narragansett Bay. It is one of the older communities of Warwick that was originally a summer community. Older cape's and colonials fill the area with reasonably priced housing on small lots. It is by no means exclusive.

[rhode islander]

Originally Posted by jtgorham

The best place to live is in the exclusive Oakland Beach section of Warwick.

oaklawn beach ic filled with lots of crime and welfare people don't even think of that place

[LemominRI]

HI I currently live in Warwick the schools are good here I live in a small community close to the air port my son attends holliman elementry excellent teachers principle I have older children that graduated from pilgim high schoolIt is a good town to live in not far from the beach stores, malls, hospitals,taxes are a little high but not as bad as some parts of RI this state can be very expensive warwick can be very busy traffic ect but not to far from the high ways

Originally Posted by CBA

Hi everyone. I’m looking for some local advice on, what else, schools and neighborhoods—but in the Warwick area rather than Providence. We’ll be temporarily relocating to RI for a 3-year job in Warwick this summer, and we have two young kids (oldest will complete grades 1-3 in RI). We’re interested in finding friendly family neighborhoods with super elementary schools. I’ve read on these threads that Barrington and E. Greenwich have good school districts, but we spent many years in Westchester County, NY (outside NYC) and definitely want to avoid the snob factor that I fear may be present in Barrington and E. Greenwich. To me, a “good” school is not defined by its test scores, but rather is one that funds its art and music programs, fosters creativity and problem-solving skills rather than rote memorization, and is one in which bullying is not tolerated. I don’t want to worry about “keeping up with the Joneses” either. In addition to good schools (charter would be okay—how does this work in RI?), we’re looking for a community with great recreational opportunities, room to roam, newer affordable (300k) houses, within a 30-minute commute to Warwick. Does it exist, and if so, where? Thanks in advance for any advice.