The Prout School

Block Island School
Location
15 High Street New Shoreham , Rhode Island 02807 United States
Information
Type	Public K–12 school
Established	1933
School district	New Shoreham School District
Superintendent	John Martin
Principal	Pam Austen
Teaching staff	21.00 FTE
Grades	K–12
Enrollment	126 (2024–25)
Student to teacher ratio	6.00
Colors	Red and white
Athletics conference	Rhode Island Interscholastic League
Nickname	Hurricanes
Website	www.bischool.net

Block Island School is a public K–12 school on Block Island in the town of New Shoreham, Rhode Island. It is the town's only public school and the sole school in the New Shoreham School District. The present school was built on High Street in 1933 following the consolidation of five one-room district schools. The National Center for Education Statistics reported 126 students and 21.00 full-time-equivalent classroom teachers in 2024–25.

Public education on Block Island dates to the nineteenth century, and an Island High School opened in 1875. The school combines elementary, middle and high-school grades in one building, and its small enrollment and island location have shaped its academic offerings, environmental programs and interscholastic athletics.

History

Public education on Block Island was organized into five school districts by at least 1857. The same five districts remained in operation when local historian Samuel Truesdale Livermore published his history of the island in 1877. New schoolhouses had recently replaced older buildings on the Neck and West Side, including a West Side school completed in fall 1876. A town architectural inventory identifies surviving buildings associated with the district system, including the Centre School on Center Road, built as a one-room schoolhouse in 1877, and School No. 3 on Payne Road, also known as the Gully or George Enos Gully School. Both were later converted into residences.

Secondary education on the island also predates the present school. In 1874, New Shoreham made the town hall available for an advanced school. After voters declined a municipal appropriation the following year, Arthur W. Brown secured financial guarantees from residents and opened the Island High School in the town hall on November 29, 1875. Ten pupils entered at the beginning of its first term, and enrollment increased to sixteen before the term ended. By February 1877, the school had completed six terms; Kate L. Backus had joined during the second term to teach vocal and instrumental music.

Federal compilations of accredited secondary schools later listed a Block Island high-school program among those approved by Rhode Island. A 1915 bulletin listed “Block Island—High School” among schools approved in June 1914, and a 1922 bulletin listed “Block Island—New Shoreham High School” among state-approved schools for 1920–21.

In 1911, Block Island naturalist Elizabeth Dickens began giving monthly Bird Study lessons to children in the district schools. She continued teaching island schoolchildren until 1960, spanning both the district-school period and the consolidated-school era. Her collection eventually included 172 mounted bird specimens gathered over more than four decades. The consolidated school was erected on High Street in 1933 and replaced the five one-room schools. The current institution serves grades K–12.

A major expansion completed in 2006 added high-school classrooms, a gymnasium, library and cafeteria.

Organization and academics

Block Island School constitutes the entire New Shoreham School District. Under the town charter, the district is governed by a five-member School Committee elected at large. The committee appoints the superintendent and adopts a proposed school budget, which proceeds through municipal review before funding is appropriated at New Shoreham's Financial Town Meeting.

A 2024 review by the Rhode Island Department of Education described the school as an elementary division for grades K–4, a middle-level division for grades 5–7 and a high school for grades 8–12. The review found class sizes generally ranging from five to eleven students, allowing extensive individualized instruction.

For the classes of 2026 and later, the high-school program requires 23 credits and completion of a Senior Project and Exhibition. Students begin the project during their junior year, undertake research and mentor-guided fieldwork and present their work publicly. The school offers honors work and selected Advanced Placement or concurrent-credit courses, with the exact schedule varying according to staffing and enrollment. In 2025–26, for example, Advanced Placement Computer Science Principles carried concurrent credit through the University of Rhode Island.

When the internal schedule cannot meet a student's academic plan, the program permits online coursework, independent study, internships, statewide course networks and college-based study. Block Island School participates in Rhode Island College's Early Enrollment Program, through which qualified students may receive both high-school and college credit, and its program materials also identify opportunities through the Community College of Rhode Island.

The island setting limits regular access to some programs available on the mainland. A 2025 facilities master plan attributed the restricted number of in-person advanced courses partly to the small high-school teaching staff and noted that ferry schedules make participation in mainland career and technical programs or in-person college courses difficult. The same plan identified the limited supply and high cost of year-round island housing, together with weather-dependent ferry service, as obstacles to recruiting and retaining employees.

Environmental education

Environmental education has repeatedly connected the school with Block Island's conservation organizations and field sites. In 1997, a United States Environmental Protection Agency grant supported a partnership with The Nature Conservancy in which students in every grade took part in outdoor and hands-on projects and shared their work with the island community.

By 2010, all students were offered an annual opportunity to participate in the Block Island Christmas Bird Count under the direction of naturalist Scott Comings. Later elementary activities included a recurring fourth-grade “Bird of the Year” unit combining research, nature walks and bird banding, as well as second-grade visits to the Block Island Banding Station.

Campus

The school occupies a building whose original section dates to 1933. The 2006 expansion added a gymnasium, media center and administrative area. The former gymnasium was converted into classrooms, an art studio and cafeteria space, while the previous library became a music area.

A facility assessment issued by the Rhode Island Department of Education in 2017 measured the building at 67,900 sq ft (6,310 m²) and identified 28 instructional spaces. It found substantial repair and modernization needs in both the original building and later additions.

The district submitted a Stage II school-construction application to the state in February 2022. It proposed work on mechanical systems, the gymnasium exterior, science and plumbing areas and other building components. Interior and exterior work on the gymnasium was complete by May 2026.

A separate long-term planning process began in late 2024 and received Stage I approval from RIDE in April 2025. The August 2025 draft master plan considered alternatives ranging from selected repairs to major renovations and additions, including substantial alteration or possible replacement of the 1933 instructional section, but did not select a final project. Development of the district's Stage II application was continuing in May 2026.

Athletics

The school's athletic teams are known as the Hurricanes. They compete in the Rhode Island Interscholastic League and have also participated in the Coastal Prep League. In 2026, the RIIL directory listed Block Island in boys' basketball, soccer and volleyball and girls' basketball, cross-country and volleyball.

Travel to mainland competition depends on ferry and bus connections. A 2025 ABC News feature described away contests that could occupy most of a day and occasions when rough seas prevented the return ferry, requiring students to remain on the mainland overnight. Because rosters are small, the absence of only a few students can leave a team unable to compete; the report also found that a large share of eligible students participated in sports.

The boys' basketball team won the 2014–15 Coastal Prep League championship, and the baseball team won the league championship later in 2015. Baseball followed with a Coastal Prep League regular-season title in 2016.

The varsity soccer team won the Coastal Preparatory League championship in 2018. In 2019, the girls' volleyball team reached the RIIL Division III championship match, losing to St. Raphael Academy 3–0. The boys' basketball team won another Coastal Prep League championship in 2020, defeating the Grove School in the final.

Among individual basketball milestones, Ross Draper became the first Hurricanes player to score 1,000 varsity career points in 2006. Kiley Hall became the first female Block Island player to reach 1,000 points in 2015, and Richie Conant reached the milestone in 2016.

External links

• Official website