Our students

St. Michael’s has a current enrollment of 237 students in grades PreK-3 through eight. The majority of our families come from Aquidneck Island (which includes the communities of Newport, Middletown, and Portsmouth). The remainder come from over the bridges— Jamestown, Saunderstown and South County in one direction and Tiverton and Bristol in the other. Private bus transportation to South County (with stops both coming and going in Jamestown and Narragansett) is available.

Our faculty

There are forty-three faculty members on the teaching staff, more than half of whom hold advanced degrees. Four of those forty-three have been here for more than twenty years, and close to half of them have been at St. Michael’s for more than ten.

The St. Michael’s Journey

The earliest years: The Early Childhood Program
Preschool (three-year-olds) and Pre-Kindergarten (four-year-olds); Kindergarten.
Class size: Ten to twelve students, with a student-teacher ratio of 12:1.

• Preschool (8:30 – 12:30; three, four, or five mornings a week)
  Using creative play, art projects and story time, the staff (one teacher plus an assistant) encourages our youngest students to discover what lies beyond the boundaries of the world they know, and about sharing and working with others. Children stay for lunch.
• Pre-Kindergarten for four-year-olds (8:30 – 12:30; children stay for lunch)
  Students in PreK-4 work on their developing mastery of letters and numbers. They are exposed to a developmentally appropriate curriculum of books, computers, art, music, science, and P.E. Field trips (to local farms and “castles,” firehouses, wildlife preserves) are also scheduled. Students in PreK-4 attend five mornings a week, and stay for lunch.
• Kindergarten (all day)
  Kindergarteners carry on the journey with abundant exposure to books (including writing and illustrating their own) and numbers (to 100 and beyond); science and French, and the ongoing enrichment of art, music, drama, and computers.

Lower School
Grades one through four (in Mason House). Class size: Ten to twelve students, with a student-teacher ratio of 12:1.
The road from The Cottage to secondary school takes the St. Michael’s student, in the Lower School, from the threshold of literature, addition and subtraction to a universe defined by Native Americans, mammals, birds, and marine life; U.S. Geography, the legacy of Abolitionists and the slaves they helped free. They flourish as competent readers, Internet explorers (through Asia, Africa, Australia, and the world’s rainforests), and creative wonders (with myriad art projects, drama presentations, and chorus performances). Last but not least they are encouraged to become socially responsible, learning about sportsmanship in P.E., respectful behavior in the classroom, and the importance of helping others. Their day begins at 7:55 and ends at 2:45. The school offers an Extended School Day program (ESD) from 3 - 5pm.

Middle School
Grades five through eight (in the van Beuren Building).
Class size: No more than sixteen .
The journey continues in Middle School. Students trek from the Fertile Crescent through Ancient Greece, Egypt, and medieval Europe; travel the solar system, and then go on to study the Enlightenment, Manifest Destiny, and the Civil War. They read Raoul Dahl, Steinbeck, Salinger, and Shakespeare; learn Algebra, quadratic functions, and Newton’s third law, and finish with Civil Rights and the Holocaust, and student-produced iMovies. They play soccer, basketball and lacrosse, and sign up for band, chorus, and community service. The Middle School day begins at 7:55 and ends at 2:45. Middle School sports are from 3:00 – 4:30pm, every day but Wednesday.