Westford Elementary School, Westford VT

Original Research by School Decision on Westford Elementary School

Westford Elementary School sits on Brookside Road in a small, rural town in northern Chittenden County, serving children from prekindergarten through eighth grade. It is part of the Essex Westford Educational Community Unified Union School District. The town of Westford is quiet and spread out, with scattered farms, forested hills, and historic village centers. The school itself appears woven into the civic fabric of the community. Walking trails at Misty Meadows are accessible right from the school parking lot, and the Westford Common, the public library, and the Common Hall all cluster nearby. This is a place where the school functions as a neighborhood anchor rather than a campus set apart.

The student body is small, with a total enrollment that fits comfortably in a single building. The vast majority of students are white, with a small number identifying as two or more races and a handful from other backgrounds. A modest share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, well below what many rural schools see. Data on English learners and students with individualized education programs was not reported, so those populations cannot be characterized here. Because the school does not serve high school grades, there is no graduation rate to report. That gap reflects the grade band, not a missing outcome.

State assessment results from the most recent year paint a mixed but largely encouraging picture. In English language arts, Westford Elementary is genuinely strong. Proficiency rates across grades three through eight are consistently high, with most grades well above what Vermont schools typically post and the upper grades among the strongest. Reading and writing appear to be a real foundation here. Science results, tested in grades five and eight, are solid as well, with a clear majority of students reaching proficiency in both grades. Mathematics is more uneven. The younger grades and grade six show strong proficiency, but grades seven and eight dip noticeably. A parent may want to look into this further with the school, particularly how math instruction is sequenced and supported in the upper grades.

The town's housing market is expensive relative to both state and national benchmarks. Typical home values sit well above the Vermont median, and the price-to-income ratio is steep, which means families buying into the area need a strong income or substantial equity. Rent data was not available. Westford has grown very slowly over the past decade, with only a slight population increase, and no major residential developments are apparent. The commercial base is thin, anchored by a handful of local employers. Many residents likely commute to Burlington and other Chittenden County job centers, which are a manageable drive away.

The county-level comparison set could not produce a proficiency index or peer positioning for this school, because the comparable cohort within Chittenden County districts was too small to support a reliable ranking. Chronic absenteeism and graduation comparisons were also unavailable. This means the academic picture here rests on the school's own state assessment results rather than a side-by-side read against neighbors.

What families get at Westford Elementary is a small, community-rooted school in a quiet rural town with strong literacy outcomes, decent science results, and a math program that shows both bright spots and soft spots. The peer environment is homogeneous and the housing costs are high for the region. For a family drawn to rural Vermont life and willing to engage with the school on the upper-grade math question, this is a grounded, familiar kind of place where the school sits at the center of town and the class sizes stay small.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 363%

School 63% · district not reported

▲ 29 pts above state median · ▲ 17 pts above county median

Grade 450%

School 50% · district not reported

▲ 21 pts above state median · ▲ 10 pts above county median

Grade 553%

School 53% · district not reported

▲ 18 pts above state median · ▲ 6 pts above county median

Grade 681%

School 81% · district not reported

▲ 36 pts above state median · ▲ 17 pts above county median

Grade 736%

School 36% · district not reported

▼ 5 pts below state median · ▼ 25 pts below county median

Grade 847%

School 47% · district not reported

▲ 14 pts above state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 375%

School 75% · district not reported

▲ 29 pts above state median · ▲ 16 pts above county median

Grade 478%

School 78% · district not reported

▲ 23 pts above state median · ▲ 16 pts above county median

Grade 577%

School 77% · district not reported

▲ 28 pts above state median · ▲ 15 pts above county median

Grade 686%

School 86% · district not reported

▲ 33 pts above state median · ▲ 12 pts above county median

Grade 767%

School 67% · district not reported

▲ 8 pts above state median · ▼ 6 pts below county median

Grade 887%

School 87% · district not reported

▲ 28 pts above state median · ▲ 18 pts above county median

Science

Grade 565%

School 65% · district not reported

▲ 21 pts above state median · ▲ 13 pts above county median

Grade 867%

School 67% · district not reported

▲ 28 pts above state median · ▲ 10 pts above county median

This schoolDistrict average, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.