Washington Central Unified Union School District #92, VT

Original Research by School Decision on Washington Central Unified Union School District #92

Washington Central Unified Union School District #92 covers a cluster of central Vermont communities in Washington County, including Montpelier, Barre, Calais, East Montpelier, Woodbury, Marshfield, Northfield, and Worcester. The district operates six schools: Berlin Elementary, Calais Elementary, East Montpelier Elementary, Rumney Memorial School, Doty Memorial School, and U-32 Middle and High School, which serves as the secondary pathway for the younger schools. All six are open and active.

The district serves prekindergarten through twelfth grade, with enrollment distributed fairly evenly across the grade bands and a modest prekindergarten presence. The student body is overwhelmingly white, with small numbers of students identifying as Hispanic, multiracial, Black, Asian, and American Indian or Alaska Native. This homogeneity is characteristic of the region.

Several data points that parents often look for were not available in what we received. State assessment results were not reported, so we cannot characterize proficiency levels in English language arts, math, or science. The four-year graduation rate was also missing. Free-or-reduced-price lunch counts, special education rates, and English learner figures were all absent. No program offerings data was provided, so we cannot speak to AP courses, career pathways, dual-credit options, or extracurriculars. We looked for a locale brief and a district brief and found neither, so we have no publicly reported narrative on recent district changes or strategic priorities to share. Rather than guess, we are naming these gaps directly.

What the data does tell us is encouraging on attendance. The district's chronic absenteeism rate sits in the top quartile among Washington County's districts, meaning it is among the lowest in the county. Fewer students are chronically absent here than at most peer districts in the area, which is a meaningful strength because attendance is one of the strongest predictors of academic outcomes.

On spending, the district's per-pupil current expenditure is in the upper range among Washington County's districts. This suggests the community invests substantially in its schools relative to neighbors, though without corresponding academic outcome data it is hard to say how that spending translates into classroom results. A parent may want to ask the district directly how those resources are allocated.

The housing market across the district varies notably by town. Montpelier, the state capital and the largest population center, carries the highest home values in the area and anchors a significant share of the district's weighted housing picture. East Montpelier and Calais also sit on the higher end. Barre, Worcester, and Marshfield offer more affordable entry points, though some of these areas have seen recent softening. Overall, district-wide home values are roughly in line with the Vermont state benchmark and slightly above the national one. Rents are available for the Montpelier and Barre zip codes and sit at a level where renting is modestly more affordable than carrying a mortgage at current rates, given the prevailing rate environment. For a family considering a move here, the housing picture is mixed: Montpelier and East Montpelier are pricier, while the smaller towns to the north and east offer relatively more affordable options within the same district.

The district's size is moderate for Vermont, large enough to field a stand-alone secondary school in U-32 but small enough that the elementary schools retain a community-scale feel. Families who value close-kmit school communities with a clear feeder pattern into a single middle and high school may find the structure appealing. Those who want to judge academic performance against state benchmarks will need to go directly to the district or the Vermont Agency of Education, because the standard testing and graduation data we rely on was not available here.

In short, Washington Central presents as a well-resourced, geographically varied district with strong attendance and a coherent PK-through-12 structure. The missing academic data limits what can be said about outcomes, and a parent weighing this district would be well served by asking the administration for current assessment results, graduation rates, and program details that the state and federal datasets did not provide.

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District Context

Officially reported figures, 2024-25.

Enrollment

1,396

Grades

PK–12

Schools

Student body

Hispanic 3%

Black 1%

White 92%

Asian 1%

Two+ 4%

Am. Indian / AK Native 0%

Schools in this District

6 schools are officially reported under this district.

Berlin Elementary School

Calais Elementary School

East Montpelier Elementary School

Rumney Memorial School

U-32 Middle & High School

Doty Memorial School

Housing & Real Estate

Data as of April 2026 | District-weighted from constituent ZIP codes

Home Values

Typical home value$393,173

Year-over-year change-1.4%

Range across 9 ZIP codes$313K to $451K

vs. state typical1.00x

vs. national typical1.07x

Home value trend (12 months)

ZIP code home values (9 ZIP codes)

ZIP	City	Value	YoY	Weight
05602	Montpelier	$419K	+1.1%	35.6%
05682	Worcester	$383K	-8.9%	24.8%
05651	East Montpelier	$451K	+0.5%	9.1%
05650	Woodbury	$370K	+0.2%	6.9%
05663	Northfield	$323K	+0.6%	5.9%
05667	Marshfield	$346K	+1.0%	5.7%
05648	Calais	$404K	+4.3%	5.0%
05641	Barre	$313K	+1.1%	4.4%
05658	Marshfield	$320K	-0.1%	0.7%

Rental Market

Typical monthly rent$1,579/mo

Range across 2 ZIP codes$1,425 to $1,598/mo

Rent trend (12 months)

ZIP code rents (2 ZIP codes)

ZIP	City	Rent/mo	YoY	Weight
05602	Montpelier	$1,598	—	35.6%
05641	Barre	$1,425	—	4.4%

Affordability

Est. monthly mortgage (20% down at 6.48%)$1,984/mo

Home price / national median income4.7x

Annual rent / national median income22.6%

Est. mortgage exceeds rent by$405/mo

Comparison

State typical home value$394,227 (+1.6% YoY)

National typical home value$368,198 (+0.6% YoY)

State ZHVI trend (12 months)

National ZHVI trend (12 months)

Economic Context

30-year fixed mortgage rate6.48%

National unemployment rate4.3%

National median household income$83,730

CPI: Rent of shelter (index)447.05

30-year fixed mortgage rate (12 months)

National unemployment rate (12 months)

National median household income (12 months)

CPI: Rent of shelter (index) (12 months)

Sources: Zillow Home Value Index and Zillow Observed Rent Index (Zillow Group), Realtor.com via Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (FRED)

Data Currently Unavailable

Academic Performance
Civil Rights Data (CRDC)

This profile is derived exclusively from publicly available federal and state datasets. It may not reflect the most current information available. We encourage parents and families to supplement this data with information published directly on the school’s website, which may include more recent figures, additional programs, or updated enrollment data.