Enrollment
126
Rhode Island · 2024-25 NCES data
Other / mixed grade configuration · Block Island, RI
Block Island School
Federal NCES profile for Block Island School, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 38/100.
2024-25 NCES dataOther / mixed grade configurationNCES 440069000149
👥 S:T ratio 75
🌟 Gifted program 30
📋 Attendance 9
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →
The verdict
Block Island School earns 38/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes smaller than 99% of Rhode Island schools. It is also one of the smallest schools in Rhode Island.
- 38
- Resource Index · Typical
- 6.3:1
- small classes for Rhode Island
- 2.3%
- free-lunch eligible
- 126
- students enrolled
Block Island School has class sizes smaller than 99% of Rhode Island schools. Computed live against every Rhode Island school reporting to NCES.
School address
District: New Shoreham · Rhode Island
NCES ID 440069000149 Verify on NCES CCD record →
Teachers (FTE)
20.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
6.3:1
vs 13.8:1 Rhode Island avg
-54% vs state
Free-lunch eligible
2.3%
vs 39.6% Rhode Island avg
-94% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Block Island School compares with Rhode Island and U.S. medians
What stands out at Block Island School
Small campus with unusually lean teacher staffing
Block Island School sits near the smaller end of the Rhode Island enrollment distribution while also reporting a lower student-teacher ratio than most state schools. That pairing is consistent with a compact, teacher-dense setting, though small scale can limit the number of specialized courses or support roles a campus can sustain. The program and staffing sections below show whether the lean ratio extends beyond classroom teachers into broader student services.
Need and resources require a component-level read
Block Island School falls within the wide middle of the Rhode Island distribution on both free-meal eligibility and the Resource Investment Index. Neither measure supplies an honest headline by itself. The useful distinctions are in the components: classroom staffing, counselor availability, attendance, gifted-program access, and district spending. Those fields can pull in opposite directions even when the overall percentile looks ordinary.
Attendance is the dominant support signal
Block Island School's 36.5% chronic-absence rate is more consequential than a generic staffing label: at least one quarter of students missed 10% or more of school days in the 2021-22 collection. That level can affect instruction, counseling demand, and continuity even when other reported resources look ordinary. The dataset records the scale of absence but not its causes, so it should prompt a current-year question rather than a conclusion about school management.
Block Island School is a lower-poverty, small combined-grade school in Block Island, Rhode Island, enrolling 126 students.
Classes run notably small here: at 6.3:1, Block Island School is leaner than roughly 99% of Rhode Island schools and 54% under the state's 13.8:1 norm, more adult attention per pupil than most peers.
Comparatively few students face economic hardship here, 2.3% free-meal eligibility runs 94% below the Rhode Island average.
This is a small campus: fewer students than 96% of Rhode Island schools, with 126 enrolled.
Its Resource Investment Index sits near the middle of the pack among 308 scored Rhode Island schools.
Its student body is led by White (67%) and Hispanic or Latino (29%) (diversity index 47/100).
Chronic absenteeism is elevated: 36.5% of students missed 10% or more of school days (2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection).
The surrounding New Shoreham spends $45,147 per pupil, 122% above the Rhode Island average, a better-resourced district than most.
New Shoreham operates only this one school, so Block Island School has no district-mates to compare against locally. At 126 students, it is also a small operation, on the smaller end of Rhode Island's single-school districts.
Sourced from NCES CCD, CRDC, and F-33 (federal records, not a quality verdict). How we source and compute this.
Source: National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data + CRDC + F-33 · 2024-25
How Block Island School compares
Block Island School on the metrics families compare, against Rhode Island and U.S. means.
| Metric | This school | vs Rhode Island | Rhode Island avg | U.S. avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Students per teacher | 6.3:1 | ▼ 54% | 13.8:1 | 15.7:1 |
| Free-lunch eligible | 2.3% | ▼ 94% | 39.6% | 51.7% |
| Enrollment | 126 | top 96% | - | - |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25
6.3:1
Leaner classes than 97% of US schools, among the more generously staffed nationally.
126
Bigger than 12% of US schools by enrollment, a small campus.
Equity indicators (what these measure)
Economic need
2.3%
free-lunch eligible
- 94% below the Rhode Island average of 39.6%
Below the 40% Title I threshold, among the lower-need profiles in the state; federal aid targets individual qualifying students rather than schoolwide programs.
Staffing depth
6.3:1
students per teacher
- 54% below state mean
Top 1% in Rhode Island - lower ratio than 99% of state schools
Well under the widely cited 15:1 individualized-attention benchmark, among the leaner class loads nationally.
Engagement
36.5%
chronically absent (missed 10%+ of school days)
At or above 20%, the commonly used threshold for "high" chronic absenteeism, signaling significant barriers to regular attendance.
Funding equity
$45,147
per pupil, district-wide
- above Rhode Island avg of $20,315
Well above the U.S. public-school average, reflecting substantially higher local or state investment per enrolled student.
Support staff
Counselors0.0 FTE
Student-support staffing from the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Discipline context
4
in-school suspensions + 1 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 3.2 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 4.0 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Student demographics
White 66.7%
Hispanic or Latino 29.4%
Two or More 3.2%
African American 0.8%
Largest group: White at 66.7% of enrollment.
Student-body diversity index 46.8/100
Simpson diversity index - at 46.8, Block Island School is about as mixed as the Rhode Island school average of 47.0.
Programs
AP courses offered 4
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for New Shoreham, which includes Block Island School.
$45,147
Per student
+122%
vs Rhode Island
Avg $20,315
+172%
vs U.S.
Avg $16,593
Revenue mix
Local 83.6%
State 12.3%
Federal 4.1%
Source: NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey District-level finance · FY 2021-22 Per-pupil expenditure reflects the district-wide average. Individual school budgets are not reported at the federal level.
Similar other schools statewide
Matched by enrollment size and by staffing ratio across all of Rhode Island, not just this city - a different peer set than the local comparisons above.
Similar enrollment (~126 students)
Next steps
Verify locally before acting on Block Island School's federal record.
- Compare Block Island School against another school. Compare schools
- New Shoreham's spending and staffing shape this school. District profile
- Confirm current enrollment and boundaries with the school. Choosing guide
Federal record (CCD 2024-25, CRDC 2021-22) - PlainSchools assigns no subjective rating; the composite quality score is a transparent, reproducible index computed from this cited federal data.
Frequently asked questions about Block Island School
How many students attend Block Island School?
Block Island School has 126 students enrolled. It is a public school in Block Island, RI.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Block Island School?
The student-teacher ratio at Block Island School is 6.3:1, which is 54% lower than the Rhode Island average of 13.8:1 and 60% lower than the national average of 15.7:1. Lower ratios generally mean more individual attention per student.
What percentage of students receive free lunch at Block Island School?
2.3% of students at Block Island School are eligible for free lunch, compared to the Rhode Island average of 39.6%.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Block Island School?
The largest demographic group at Block Island School is White at 66.7% of enrollment, in Block Island, RI.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Block Island School?
Block Island School has a Resource Investment Index of 38/100 (typical reported resources relative to schools nationally) based on 3 factors: student-teacher ratio, gifted-program reporting, chronic absenteeism. Not a test-score or academic measure (national median ~41/100, see methodology).
What other schools are in New Shoreham?
None reported; New Shoreham operates only Block Island School as a public school district in NCES's records.
Related tools
Every figure on PlainSchools is rendered directly from the source NCES, CRDC and F-33 federal records, no number is typed in by an editor. Each school's figures reflect its most recent NCES/CRDC submission on file. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of July 2026.