State approves redesign plan for Slater Middle School

What happened

On July 28, 2026 the superintendent reported that Rhode Island's Council on Elementary and Secondary Education had approved the district's redesign plan for Samuel Slater Middle School, to begin in the 2026-27 school year, after an independent review found it met every evaluation indicator. Six conditions were attached, covering professional learning, phased rollout, long-range facilities planning, an implementation project plan, progress monitoring and reporting. Slater had to be redesigned because it stayed in the state's Comprehensive Support and Improvement category for more than four years; closing the school was one of the five options the state allowed.

Why it matters to families

Redesign changes how Slater is staffed, scheduled and run, and closure was on the table until the plan was approved. Families at Slater will see a converted library serving as a career and technical exploratory lab and two new STEAM classrooms in 2026-27.

The evidence

The approved July 28, 2026 minutes record the Council's approval, the six implementation conditions and the closing of the state agreement. The October 28, 2025 minutes list the five redesign models including closure, and the June 23, 2026 minutes describe the library-to-CTE-lab conversion.

The source