The top reported proficiency rate is 24% in English language arts. The lowest is 14% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Nathan Bishop Middle
Nathan Bishop Middle is a regular public school serving grades six through eight on Providence's East Side, on Sessions Street. It sits within the Providence Public School District, the largest district in Rhode Island, and operates as a traditional neighborhood middle school rather than a charter or magnet program.
The school serves a moderately sized enrollment for a middle school, with its students distributed across the three grade levels in roughly even bands. The student body is predominantly Hispanic, with a substantial Black population and a smaller White enrollment. A meaningful share of students identify as two or more races, and there are smaller Asian and American Indian or Alaska Native groups. A large majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which reflects the economic profile of the surrounding community and positions the school as one serving a predominantly lower-income population. Data on English learners and students with individualized education programs was not available in the provided records, so those population sizes cannot be characterized here.
On state assessments, Nathan Bishop's results are low. In English language arts, roughly a quarter of tested students reached proficiency on the most recent RICAS administration. In math, the proficient share was lower still. Science, tested only at eighth grade, showed the smallest proficient group. Participation was near-universal across all three subjects, which means these results reflect nearly the entire student body rather than a selective subset. Only a single year of assessment data was available, so there is no trend to describe. The proficiency figures, taken at face value, indicate that most students at Nathan Bishop are not yet meeting state grade-level expectations. A parent may want to look into this further with the school, asking what interventions and supports are in place for students performing below proficiency and how the school measures individual growth over the year.
The housing market surrounding Nathan Bishop, based on its zip code, is expensive relative to both state and national benchmarks. Typical home values sit well above the Rhode Island statewide level and far above the national figure. Rents are also elevated compared to many areas, though renting remains somewhat more affordable month-to-month than carrying a mortgage at current rates. The price-to-income ratio for buyers is high, meaning homeownership in this area demands a strong income relative to what typical households earn. For families considering renting near the school, the rent burden falls near the threshold often considered a stretch for household budgets.
Providence itself is Rhode Island's capital and largest city, an urban center with a mix of college campuses, hospitals, state government, and service-sector employment. The East Side, where Nathan Bishop is located, is generally considered one of the more established residential areas of the city, with proximity to Brown University and the Rhode Island School of Design. The locale brief generated for this school returned no substantive community-specific content, so there is little additional sourced detail to relay about neighborhood-level changes or development context. The district brief similarly found no recent policy, curriculum, referendum, or tax changes in the Providence district clearing a lasting-impact threshold, so nothing on that front can be reported.
Several categories of school-level information were absent from the available data. There was no locale classification, no discipline data, no course-access or program-offering information, no staffing figures, and no attendance or chronic-absenteeism data. Civil rights data was also empty. Without these, it is not possible to describe the school's disciplinary climate, its advanced or elective course options, its teacher-to-student ratios, or its attendance patterns. A family evaluating Nathan Bishop would benefit from asking the school directly about these areas, particularly what enrichment, after-school, and academic-support programs are available to students across the three grade levels.
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