Research · High schools - Rhode Island · October 2026

How Many High Schools Are in Rhode Island? 70 Public and 28 Private

Name: How Many High Schools Are in Rhode Island? 70 Public and 28 Private
Creator: Test Prep Gurus (High School Reach)
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

As of October 2026: Rhode Island has 98 high schools: 70 public and 28 private. The largest is East Providence High in East Providence, with 1,691 students in grades 9 through 12.

The table lists the 15 largest public high schools in Rhode Island by the number of students in grades 9 through 12.

Analysis: Test Prep Gurus (High School Reach, highschoolreach.com), October 2026. Figures and the table may be quoted with attribution to Test Prep Gurus.

The findings, in plain English

Rhode Island has 98 high schools. 70 are public and 28 are private. The 62 public high schools that report enrollment hold 42,413 students in grades 9 through 12 between them. The private count is a floor, because the federal private school survey is voluntary and a school can skip it.

East Providence High is the largest public high school in Rhode Island. It enrolls 1,691 students in grades 9 through 12 in East Providence. The 15th largest school on the table, Mount Pleasant High in Providence, enrolls 997. None of the 15 largest are charter schools.

The largest private high school in Rhode Island is St Raphael Academy. It enrolls 444 students in Pawtucket. That is smaller than every public school on the table above. Private schools report total enrollment to the federal survey, so a school that also teaches younger grades counts those students too. Only schools whose lowest grade is 9 are listed here, so each one is a high school.

The 15 largest public high schools in Rhode Island

Ranked by the number of students in grades 9 through 12.

High school	City	Students in grades 9-12	Charter
East Providence High	East Providence	1,691	No
Cranston High School West	Cranston	1,653	No
Woonsocket High School	Woonsocket	1,646	No
Cranston High School East	Cranston	1,525	No
Cumberland High School	Cumberland	1,428	No
North Kingstown Sr. High	North Kingstown	1,278	No
Coventry High School	Coventry	1,201	No
Pilgrim High School	Warwick	1,137	No
Classical High School	Providence	1,116	No
Toll Gate High School	Warwick	1,104	No
Barrington High School	Barrington	1,098	No
North Providence High	North Providence	1,085	No
West Warwick High School	West Warwick	1,081	No
Central High School	Providence	1,050	No
Mount Pleasant High	Providence	997	No

NCES Common Core of Data, grade 9-12 enrollment. Virtual schools are excluded. Absence from this list means a school is not among the largest, nothing more.

The largest private high schools in Rhode Island

Private schools whose lowest grade is 9, by total enrollment.

High school	City	Students
St Raphael Academy	Pawtucket	444
Portsmouth Abbey School	Portsmouth	334
St Patrick Academy	Providence	82
School One	Providence	74
Middlebridge School	Narragansett	70

NCES Private School Universe Survey 2021-22, respondents only. Total enrollment, not a grades 9-12 count.

What these counts cover

A high school here is a school that serves grade 12. Virtual schools are left out, because a school with no building is not comparable to one with a campus. Public counts come from the federal Common Core of Data, which every public district reports to. Private counts come from the federal Private School Universe Survey.

Enrollment for public schools is the number of students in grades 9 through 12, so a school that also teaches middle school grades is not inflated by them. A school that reports no enrollment figure is counted in the state total but cannot be ranked, which is why the number of schools with an enrollment figure is smaller than the public count.

Private high schools in Rhode Island

The private table below shows the largest private high schools whose lowest grade is 9. The survey is voluntary, so treat these as the largest among the schools that answered, not a complete ranking. A private school that declines the survey does not appear at all.

Private enrollment is a total, not a grades 9 through 12 count, because the survey does not break it out the same way. Limiting the list to schools that start at grade 9 keeps the figures comparable to each other.

What a family should do with this

Size is a starting point, not a verdict. A large school usually offers more courses, more sports and more clubs, and a small school usually gives a student more contact with the adults who write recommendation letters. Both shapes send students to good colleges.

The more useful question is where a school's own graduates actually go. Our page for each Rhode Island high school carries that school's figures and, where the school publishes one, its own numbered list of the colleges its graduates chose. Start from the school page rather than from the size of the building.

Questions parents ask

How many high schools are in Rhode Island?

Rhode Island has 98 high schools: 70 public and 28 private. The largest is East Providence High in East Providence, with 1,691 students in grades 9 through 12.

What is the largest high school in Rhode Island?

It enrolls 1,691 students in grades 9 through 12 in East Providence.

Are private high schools included in the Rhode Island count?

70 are public and 28 are private. The private count is a floor, because the federal private school survey is voluntary and a school can skip it.

Method & sources: Public school counts and grade 9-12 enrollment come from the NCES Common Core of Data; private counts and enrollment come from the NCES Private School Universe Survey, whose respondents are a floor. A high school is a school serving grade 12; virtual schools are excluded. The public table is ranked by grade 9-12 enrollment, and schools without an enrollment figure are counted in the state total but not ranked.

This brief as data: /research/high-schools-in-rhode-island.json. Free for editorial use with attribution to Test Prep Gurus (High School Reach).