The top reported proficiency rate is 44% in Science. The lowest is 14% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Clarendon Elementary School
Clarendon Elementary School sits on Grange Hall Road in North Clarendon, a small unincorporated village in the town of Clarendon, Rutland County. The school serves pre-kindergarten through sixth grade and is part of the Mill River Unified Union School District. With an enrollment that is small for its grade band, the school reflects the character of its surroundings: a low-density, primarily residential village stretched along U.S. Route 7, functioning as a bedroom community for Rutland city a few miles to the north. Families here rely on personal vehicles for nearly all daily needs, as there is no walkable commercial district or transit system within the village itself.
The student body is nearly entirely white, with only a handful of students identifying as Asian, Hispanic, or two or more races. About half of the students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which gives a sense of the economic mix in the community. The school does not report IEP or English-learner rates in the data available, so those populations cannot be characterized here. Because the school ends at sixth grade, there is no graduation rate to report, and that absence simply reflects the grade band rather than any gap in performance.
State assessment results from the most recent year paint a mixed and incomplete picture. Several grade-level results were suppressed, a common situation when class sizes are this small and privacy rules kick in. Among the results that were reported, math proficiency was low in third grade and modest in sixth grade. English language arts showed a stronger trajectory, with third-grade proficiency below the middle range and sixth-grade results reaching a level where half of tested students were proficient. Fifth-grade science proficiency fell in a moderate range. These numbers come from very small tested groups, so a single student's performance shifts the picture considerably. A parent weighing this school may want to look into how the district supports math instruction across the early grades, as the reported results suggest that is where students are struggling most relative to their reading performance.
The neighbor comparison set, drawn from districts in Rutland County, could not produce a proficiency index, graduation comparison, or chronic-absenteeism comparison for this school. The proficiency index was not applicable because the cohort of comparable schools with reported data was too small. The graduation and absenteeism metrics were not available for the school itself, the former because it is an elementary school and the latter because the data was not reported. So this school cannot be positioned against its Rutland County peers through the standard comparison metrics. What can be said is that the district, Mill River Unified Union, serves a cluster of rural towns in the region, and Clarendon Elementary is one of its smaller pieces.
Housing in the North Clarendon area is relatively affordable compared with Vermont as a whole and the nation. Typical home values sit below both the state and national benchmarks, and the price-to-income ratio is moderate. The village has seen minimal growth, with population estimates showing a slight increase in recent years but projections pointing to a modest decline ahead. Housing stock is predominantly owner-occupied single-family homes, with a small rental segment. No major new developments were identified. For a family considering buying into the area, this means a quiet, stable residential setting with access to Rutland's services and employment a short drive north, but little in the way of local amenities or commercial activity within walking distance.
What Clarendon Elementary offers is a small, community-rooted elementary experience in a rural Vermont setting. The academic data that is available raises questions about math outcomes in the early grades, while reading results in the upper elementary years are more encouraging. Small class sizes mean individual attention is likely but also that assessment results can swing sharply from year to year. Families looking for a close-kmit, quiet school environment may find it here, with the understanding that the documented academic picture is thin and that a conversation with the school about math support and overall instructional approach would be a worthwhile next step.
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