Report: RI's Best Teachers Work in North Kingstown

North Kingstown High School has some of the best teachers in the state, according to a recent report of teacher rankings across Rhode Island.

Niche.com recently released its 2015 list of high schools with the best teachers throughout the nation, as well as the state of Rhode Island, and many schools you’ll recognize received high ranks, including NKHS.

Students at the town’s high school have consistently scored high on standardized tests as compared to the rest of the state. And reviews from parents and students are overwhelmingly positive.

North Kingstown High School was ranked fourth in the state in the survey. Positive comments made mention of the school’s athletic program, compassionate teachers, extracurricular activities, and surprisingly, one student even mentioned the food.

“I myself have never bought lunch from my high school cafeteria, I have however bought breakfast on a few occasions, and I was very pleased with the quality of the food that I was served,” said a high school senior.

“At North Kingstown High School, my experience was extremely positive. I had teachers who helped to challenge me and get me excited about learning,” said another senior. “I had a wonderful experience with Unified sports and Peer Partner classes. I always felt that this school was a friendly, supportive environment for me to challenge myself, make friends, and make a plan for my future.”

Negative comments focused on some specific policies that students aren’t so happy about, such as how seniors can’t go off-campus for lunch. Also mentioned was a lack of diversity, unfair enforcement of punishment and inconsistency.

“The punishment and administration policies at North Kingstown High School are extremely unfair, the depend on ’what type of kid you are,’” one student said. “If you are generally quiet and do not get in trouble often, you will be able to get away with doing something wrong. However, if you are known as a ’bad kid,’ you will get punished for doing the exact same thing as the other student.”

Read through all 240-plus comments HERE.

In addition to naming the overall best high schools, Niche.com also ranked schools with the best extracurricular activites,facilities, food, outcomes, sports and more.

Niche ranked more than 100,000 public and private schools and districts based on dozens of statistics and 27 million opinions from 300,000 students and parents. View the full methodology here.

Somewhat surprisingly, teachers in Barrington and East Greenwich — school districts frequently listed among the best in the state — are not in the top 25, according to Niche.com’s criteria. Here is a look at the state’s top 25 of 53 public high schools with the best teachers in RI, as ranked by Niche.com:

1. Classical High School, Providence
2. Portsmouth High School
3. Narragansett High School
4. North Kingstown Senior High School
5. Exeter-West Greenwich Regional High School
6. South Kingstown High School
7. Westerly High School
8. Lincoln Senior High School
9. Coventry High School
10. Chariho Regional High School
11. Smithfield Senior High School
12. Rogers High School, Newport
13. Warwick Veterans Memorial High School
14. North Providence High School
15. Ponaganset High School, North Scituate
16. Cranston High School East
17. Burrillville High School
18. Cranston High School West
19. Pilgrim High School, Warwick
20. Toll Gate High School Warwick
21. Scituate High School
22. Central High School, Providence
23. Middletown High School
24. Cumberland High School
25. Mount Pleasant High School, Providence