North Kingstown schools highlight accountability gains; high school wins $100,000 Champlin grant for machinist program

The North Kingstown School Committee on the public agenda celebrated districtwide gains in the state’s school accountability results and announced a private grant to expand career-technical education.

Superintendent Ken told the committee that every school in the district scored at least three stars on the state’s five-star accountability scale, with Hamilton rising to five stars and several schools improving by one star. He said the results show “strong overall LEA performance” and pointed to increases in English language arts achievement and graduation rates.

In the same update, Ken announced that North Kingstown High School received a $100,000 grant from the Champlin Foundation to support a new machinist CTE program. “North Kingstown High School has been awarded a generous $100,000 grant from the Champlin Foundation,” he said, noting the award will supplement partnerships with Electric Boat and the Community College of Rhode Island to buy equipment and expand hands-on training.

Committee members asked for follow-up presentations and supporting data on accountability metrics; administration said a detailed school-accountability presentation will appear at the next meeting. Members also raised related equity and program questions such as how the grant aligns with local workforce needs and ongoing CTE enrollment trends.

The committee did not take a separate vote on the grant at this meeting; Ken said any required acceptance or budget adjustments would be brought forward through the committee’s regular consent or policies process.

The district plans a fuller presentation of the 2025 accountability results and the Champlin-funded machinist program at upcoming meetings.