Summary:
Lincoln, Rhode Island, has four elementary schools in the Lincoln district: three serve kindergarten through grade 5, and Northern Lincoln Elementary also serves pre-K. Their 2025–26 results vary considerably, even though the schools’ average proficiency rates are above state figures in all three subjects. The clearest finding for families comparing schools is that Lincoln Central Elementary leads the other three in ELA, math, and science, and in every tested grade.
Lincoln Central is the strongest overall, with 63.2% proficient in ELA, 70.1% in math, and 61.7% in science—23.3, 30.6, and 16.3 percentage points above the respective averages of its three peers. The schools’ average results are 45.7% in ELA, 47.1% in math, and 49.5% in science, compared with state rates of 33.1%, 31.9%, and 31.1%. At the lower end, Northern Lincoln has the lowest ELA result (33.2%, just above the state rate), Saylesville Elementary the lowest math result (38.9%), and Lonsdale Elementary the lowest science result (38.9%). Grade-level results add important detail: Northern’s fourth-grade ELA is 21.2%, below the 32.4% state rate, while Saylesville’s third-grade ELA and Lonsdale’s fifth-grade math are also slightly below state results.
Recent changes differ by subject: the four-school average rose 5.5 points in science from 2024–25 to 2025–26, but fell 0.9 point in ELA and 1.9 points in math. Lonsdale improved in ELA and math, while Saylesville declined in both; science increased at Northern and Saylesville but dipped slightly at Lonsdale. SchoolDigger ranks Central 8th of 163 statewide schools in 2025–26 (95th percentile); Lonsdale’s percentile rose from 58 to 68 since 2023–24, while Saylesville’s fell from 72 to 67. School profiles also differ: Central has the highest reported student–teacher ratio (17.3) and lowest free/reduced-lunch rate (12.74%), while Northern has the lowest ratio (13.0) and highest enrollment; these are observations, not explanations for achievement differences.
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