The top reported proficiency rate is 14% in English language arts. The lowest is 9% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Harry Kizirian Elementary
Harry Kizirian Elementary sits on Camden Avenue in the Wanskuck neighborhood of north Providence, serving pre-kindergarten through fifth grade as a regular public school in the Providence Public School District. The enrollment of about five hundred students makes it a moderately sized elementary school for the city, with class sizes across the early grades that are fairly even, growing from the pre-kindergarten and kindergarten cohorts into the upper elementary years.
The student body is predominantly Hispanic, with a substantial Black population and smaller groups of Asian, white, and multiracial students. A very large share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which places Kizirian among the higher-poverty schools in the district. English learner and special education rates were not reported in the data available, so a parent wanting to understand those supports would need to ask the school directly.
On Rhode Island's RICAS assessments, the most recent results show proficiency rates that are low in both tested subjects. In math, roughly nine percent of tested students in grades three through eight reached proficiency, and in English language arts the share was modestly higher but still below what most parents would hope to see. Fifth-grade science proficiency was similarly low. Participation was strong across all three subjects, with nearly every eligible student tested, so the results reflect the full student body rather than a skewed subset. Only one year of data was available, so there is no trend to report. These are the kind of results a parent may want to look into further with the school, asking what interventions are in place and how the building plans to move proficiency upward.
The school does not serve high school grades, so there is no graduation rate to report. That metric simply does not apply here. No data was provided on course offerings, extracurricular programs, staffing ratios, attendance, or discipline, so those pieces of the picture are absent from this account. The school's Title I status was also not reported, though given the poverty rate, federal Title I support would be typical for a building like this.
Providence as a district is the largest in Rhode Island, and the district brief turned up little in the way of recent policy, curriculum, or funding changes that clear a bar for lasting impact. That means there is no major shake-up to flag here, no new referendum or restructuring that would reshape a family's experience at Kizirian in the near term.
The housing market around the school's zip code sits below the Rhode Island state benchmark for typical home values but above the national one. Homes here are appreciating at a modest pace year over year, and rents have risen a bit faster. For a family weighing buying versus renting, the estimated monthly mortgage in this area runs higher than typical rent by a few hundred dollars, which reflects the broader environment of elevated borrowing costs. Rent absorbs roughly thirty percent of a typical household's income in this zip code, a level many families would feel as a stretch but not an extreme one.
What Kizirian offers is a neighborhood elementary school rooted in a working-class section of Providence, with a diverse student body and full participation in state testing. The academic results are a clear soft spot, and the absence of program, staffing, and attendance data leaves gaps a family would want to fill through a visit or a conversation with the principal. For parents prioritizing proximity and a community that mirrors the neighborhood, this is a school worth understanding on those terms, with the academic questions asked directly.
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