Thoughts on Coventry schools?

Submitted by Roxasblades t3_11l5p9t in RhodeIsland

My family and I are looking to buy a house in the July-September timeframe, and we've been looking at Cumberland, Lincoln, and West Greenwich areas because of their school ratings. Recently, a friend of ours recommended that we take a look at Coventry as well. The housing market looks better than where we've been looking (more space per $), but I'm having a hard time finding how the schools compare to Cumberland (where we currently are). The school ratings seem ok on sites like Niche, but all of the reviews we're finding from students and parents are pretty low.

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Hdale803 t1_jbalj5m wrote

Look at the report cards from RIDE on the schools - they outline areas of strength and growth

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Roxasblades OP t1_jbaquw9 wrote

Thanks for the info. This paints a much better picture than the other random websites.

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Environmental-Ad4090 t1_jbalt3f wrote

The education my daughter seems to be getting in Coventry is fine, I have noticed that a lot of the children are coming from families in West Warwick. The children are fine but I cant say the same about some of the parents I have met lol.

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Roxasblades OP t1_jbar2t8 wrote

That's roughly what we're expecting. It's hard to go by the actual reviews because a bunch of them are disgruntled kids. I personally loved my high school, but there were times where I would have gone off in a review if it was common back then lol

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nevitales t1_jbbkg62 wrote

Not that this means much, and idk what it compares to in other towns, but the schools here get about 70% of the towns budget. I would also recommend doing some research on how the town runs things, there's usually chaos every year with the budget, lots of interim managers and other rotations, there is a fire tax that you pay separate from regular town taxes because of the fire district setup, etc.

I don't have any kids so can't speak to specifics, but I do have many friends who went through the Coventry school system and now their children do as well. Of course, ymmv.

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gluiz90 t1_jbbq6qv wrote

When we moved a couple years ago we moved to West Greenwich for the school system. We actually looked at some comparable houses in Coventry, but at the time, the real estate + fire tax would have been like, 4-5K more a year than the house we ended up in WG. West Greenwich has a homestead tax discount, and I believe it's a 30% discount or something.
As far as Coventry goes, I have friends and family that went through the school system and haven't heard anything really negative.

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liliumsuperstar t1_jbbtugr wrote

I don’t live in Coventry but I know there’s some weirdness with the town government not wanting to fund the schools very much. Maybe someone who knows more can fill you in. Like one year recently they laid off all the teachers and made them reapply, that sort of thing.

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potholesandpizza t1_jbc0qz5 wrote

Are you looking for elementary schools or junior/ senior high school? Can only speak to elementary but my kids love their school and they have an excellent school/ teachers.

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quahaug1945 t1_jbc35i6 wrote

Coventry's middle school is a disaster. If you can afford EWG buy there; you won't regret it. I've had grandchildren in both systems and there's no comparison.

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