Founders Academy

Founders Academy, a tiny middle-grades school in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, part of Beacon Charter School, serves 158 students, covering grades 6 through 8. Enrollment runs roughly 70% leaner than the state mean of about 523.

Beacon Charter School runs 2 schools in total, collectively educating 361 students. Founders Academy is one of those campuses.

On the student-mix side, Founders Academy logs that the largest single group is White at 40%, but no single group is in the majority; the rest breaks down as 39% Hispanic, 11% multiracial, 9% Black. That is considerably less White than the county at large, where the share is closer to 60%.

On the resource side, The school currently runs with 14 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 11.3:1. The state averages around 12.7:1, so this campus is tighter than the state norm typical. An estimated 70% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, often used as a Title I proxy.

In the broader community, Providence County reports that median household earnings sit near $78,787, about 32% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and roughly 9% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Across Providence County's 206 public schools (combined enrollment of about 88,799 students), Founders Academy is one campus in the mix.

Nearest neighbor: BEACON Charter School, around 0.1 miles off. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around Founders Academy.

Geographically, the school is in a bedroom-community area. Founders Academy is a charter school, which puts it inside the public-school system but outside the standard district-managed model.

Five-year trend. Founders Academy's enrollment has climbed 18% since 2018, when it stood at 134 (now 158). White enrollment moved from 64% to 40% across the same window.

On allk12, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around enrollment questions, classroom assignments, and PTA news. Members of the school community can share what they know.