Pocasset School vs Fort Barton School

Fort Barton School and Pocasset School are both elementary schools in Tiverton, Rhode Island, separated by 3.1 miles — but they sit at meaningfully different points on Rhode Island's school quality spectrum. Fort Barton School holds an overall rating of 9.4/10, ranking #8 of 302 elementary schools statewide, while Pocasset School earns an 8.7/10 and ranks #23 of 302. Both are strong performers in absolute terms, but Fort Barton's top-10 statewide position places it among Rhode Island's elite elementary schools.

The academic score is where the gap is sharpest: Fort Barton School earns a 9.4/10 versus Pocasset School's 8.0/10 — a 1.4-point difference that reflects meaningfully higher tested proficiency. Growth scores are closer, with Fort Barton School at 9.8/10 and Pocasset School at 9.4/10, a 0.4-point margin. That tight growth gap tells parents that students at Pocasset School are making strong year-over-year gains even if their absolute proficiency baseline runs lower than Fort Barton's.

On the demographic and resource side, Pocasset School enrolls 191 students against Fort Barton School's 172, and its free and reduced-price lunch rate is 29% compared to 13% at Fort Barton School — indicating that Pocasset serves a more economically diverse population. Fort Barton's student-teacher ratio of 10.8:1 edges out Pocasset School's 11.9:1, giving Fort Barton students slightly more individualized classroom access. Both ratios are well below the national average for public elementary schools.

One structural distinction worth noting: Pocasset School serves grades PK–04, offering a pre-kindergarten entry point that Fort Barton School — which begins at kindergarten — does not. Families with a child not yet at kindergarten age who want to stay within the same school building through grade 4 will find that option only at Pocasset School.