The top reported proficiency rate is 17% in English language arts. The lowest is 9% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Providence Preparatory Charter
Providence Preparatory Charter is a single-school charter district serving middle grades in Providence, Rhode Island. It opened in 2021 as a tuition-free public charter middle school, pitched as a college-preparatory pathway for city families. The school serves grades five through eight and is still in its early years of operation. A grant from City Fund in 2024, publicly reported, was directed toward expanding the school, which signals planned growth in capacity. The district lists one school under its umbrella, and staffing is small.
The student body is predominantly Hispanic, with a substantial Black enrollment as well. White students make up a small fraction of the population, and the remaining students identify as Asian, American Indian or Alaska Native, or two or more races. The school is fairly evenly distributed across its four grade levels. Free-or-reduced-price lunch data was not available in the provided records, and special population information including individualized education program rates and English learner counts was also missing. These are categories a parent may want to ask the school about directly, since the data here does not characterize how the school serves students with disabilities or those learning English.
On state assessments, the school's proficiency results are low across all tested subjects. In math, a small share of students reached proficiency on the RICAS assessment, and in English language arts the proficient portion was somewhat higher but still modest. Science results, reported separately for fifth and eighth grade, were also low, with the eighth grade science proficiency particularly limited. Participation rates were strong, with nearly all students taking the assessments. The school is new enough that no multi-year trend data was available, so there is no way to read whether these numbers represent an upward or downward trajectory. What the current snapshot shows is a school whose students are performing below where most families would want proficiency to sit. A parent considering this school would be right to ask how leadership plans to strengthen academic outcomes and what supports are in place for students working below grade level.
No locale brief, housing data, or community economic context was provided for this entity, so there is little here to characterize the surrounding neighborhood, rental market, or broader growth pressures. The district brief confirms the school is located in Providence and was founded as a new option for families seeking a college-preparatory model, but beyond that founding mission statement, the available data does not describe the specific programmatic elements that define the college-prep pathway. No course access data, no program offerings, no staffing detail beyond a headcount, and no discipline or attendance information was available. Civil rights data was not provided either.
What a parent can take from this profile is a young, small charter middle school serving a predominantly Hispanic and Black student population in Providence, with a stated college-preparatory mission and recent investment in expansion. The academic results in the most recent state assessment cycle are a soft spot, plainly visible in the data. The school's youth may partly explain where things stand, and the growth grant suggests leadership is looking ahead. Families weighing this option should visit, ask about the academic plan, and press for specifics on how the school supports students reading or doing math below grade level, since the current proficiency picture indicates that is where many students are.
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