The top reported proficiency rate is 48% in English language arts. The lowest is 7% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Poultney High School
Poultney High School sits on East Main Street in the town of Poultney, Vermont, serving grades seven through twelve as part of the Quarry Valley Unified Union School District. The school is small for its grade band, with total enrollment across six grades that keeps class sizes close and personal. The student body is nearly entirely white, with only a handful of students identifying as multiracial, Black, or Asian. Just over half of the students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which gives a picture of a working-class rural Vermont community. Data on individualized education programs and English learner status was not reported, so those figures are absent from this account rather than absent from the school.
State testing results from the most recent year are available only for seventh and eighth grade, since Vermont's statewide assessment does not test high school grades with this instrument. In English language arts, seventh graders performed reasonably well, with a solid majority reaching proficiency. Eighth grade ELA dropped to a lower level, with fewer than half proficient. Math followed a similar downward pattern between the two grades, with seventh grade landing around a middle band and eighth grade slipping to a much lower proficiency level. Eighth grade science results were quite low, with only a small fraction of tested students reaching proficiency. These are results from small tested groups, which means a few students in either direction can shift the picture substantially. A parent looking at these numbers may want to ask the school how it supports academic growth between seventh and eighth grade, particularly in math and science. No multi-year trend data was available, so it is hard to say whether this year's results represent a pattern or a one-year fluctuation.
The state did not report a four-year graduation rate for this school in the available data, and the Rutland County district comparison set could not produce a proficiency index or graduation comparison because the cohort was too small and the entity's own graduation figure was missing. This means we cannot position Poultney High against its neighboring districts on those measures. The county-level comparison, labeled relative to districts in Rutland County, simply does not yield a ranking here.
The housing market in Poultney is more affordable than both the Vermont state benchmark and the national one, with typical home values sitting well below either. That affordability comes in the context of a district budget picture that residents are actively navigating. The district recently approved its FY27 budget while contending with a decline in the Common Level of Appraisals, a state equalization ratio that affects property tax rates for residents across Poultney, Proctor, and West Rutland. A declining ratio generally pushes equalized property tax rates upward, which means families in the district may face a higher property tax burden going forward. This is a publicly reported development worth watching for anyone considering a move into the district.
No data was available on course offerings, Advanced Placement, dual enrollment, career pathways, staffing ratios, attendance, chronic absenteeism, or discipline. Without those pieces, a full picture of the academic program and school environment is not possible from this data alone. What we can say is that Poultney High School is a small, close-knit secondary school in an affordable rural Vermont town, serving a predominantly white, working-class student body, with middle-grade test results that mix a decent ELA showing with weaker math and science outcomes at the eighth grade level. Families considering this school would benefit from asking directly about the high school academic program, graduation outcomes, and what supports are in place for students as they move from middle grades into the upper grades.
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