Best High Schools in Zip Code 02861

Zip code 02861 has one high school, Jacqueline M. Walsh School, serving grades 9–12 in Pawtucket, with 173 students. Its strongest results are in English language arts (ELA) and science: in 2025–26, proficiency was 23 percentage points above the state on grade-11 SAT ELA, 25 points above on grade-10 PSAT10 ELA, and 21 points above on all-grades science. The most important finding is that Walsh was above the state in all five reported test comparisons, though its math advantage was much smaller.

Because Walsh is the only school in this list, there is no local top-to-bottom school comparison; its results stand out against state and district figures instead. Math is the relative weak spot: the school was 2 points above the state on SAT mathematics and 6 points above on PSAT10 mathematics, compared with ELA advantages of 23 and 25 points. Its simple average state lead was 24 points in ELA versus 4 points in math. Walsh also had strong reported 2024–25 outcomes: a 100% graduation rate, 15 points above the state, and a 0% dropout rate, 7 points below it. SchoolDigger ranked the school 15th of 58 statewide for 2025–26, at the 74th percentile with four stars. Its reported student–teacher ratio was 10.8, and 45% of students qualified for free or reduced-price lunch—useful context, not an explanation for results.

Results moved in different directions from 2024–25 to 2025–26. SAT ELA fell 7 points to 71%, SAT mathematics fell 2 points to 25%, and PSAT10 ELA fell 7 points to 81%; PSAT10 mathematics improved 5 points to 35%. Walsh remained ahead of the state on all four matched exams, but its average lead across them narrowed by 3 points, from 17 to 14 points, as the lead shrank on three measures and widened on PSAT10 mathematics. All-grades science proficiency also declined, from 60% to 52%, while remaining 21 points above the state in 2025–26. With only one school listed, the information cannot show how Walsh compares with other nearby high schools.