The top reported proficiency rate is 44% in English language arts. The lowest is 34% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Chester Andover Elementary School
Chester Andover Elementary School sits at 72 Main Street in the heart of Chester, a small Windsor County town that has long served as a commercial hub for the surrounding hill communities. The school serves prekindergarten through sixth grade and is part of the Green Mountain Unified School District. Its enrollment is modest for the grade band, and the student body is predominantly white, with a small Hispanic population and a handful of students identifying as Black or multiracial. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the working-class character of much of the community. Data on English learners and students with individualized education programs was not reported, so those figures are absent here rather than implied.
On Vermont's state assessments, the most recent results paint a mixed but improving picture as students move through the grades. Math proficiency starts low in third and fourth grade, then climbs noticeably in fifth and sixth. ELA results follow a less even pattern: fourth grade stands out as a strong year, while third grade is the weakest. Fifth-grade science proficiency lands in a moderate range. The general trajectory suggests older students at Chester Andover are performing better than the younger cohorts, though the third-grade results in both math and reading are a soft spot a parent may want to look into further with the school. No trend data was available to show whether these results are improving or declining over time, and the comparison set for Windsor County districts returned too few comparable schools to position Chester Andover against its neighbors.
Because this is an elementary school serving no high school grades, there is no graduation rate to report. Course access, staffing, discipline, attendance, and chronic absenteeism data were all absent from the available records, so those dimensions of school environment cannot be described here. Title I status and school type were not specified in the data.
Chester itself is a town built around its village green, with shops, restaurants, bed-and-breakfasts, antique stores, and art galleries drawing both residents and visitors. Two National Register historic districts give the place a distinct architectural identity. The Stone Village features gneiss-stone houses built by ordinary families using locally quarried rock, while Chester Village contains homes in Victorian, Colonial Revival, and Federal styles. The Williams River runs through the center of town and is used for fishing and swimming. The town sits near several major ski areas, including Okemo, Stratton, and Killington, which brings seasonal tourism traffic. Walkability is concentrated in the village center; the surrounding areas are rural and car-dependent, served by Vermont Routes 10, 11, 35, and 103, with Interstate 91 access via exit 6 in nearby Rockingham.
The town's population has stayed relatively stable. The most visible recent development fight was over a proposed Dollar General store, which residents contested for years before the Vermont Environmental Court ultimately allowed it. Chester also suffered significant flooding damage during Hurricane Irene. Publicly reported sources did not identify major employers beyond small businesses and seasonal tourism, and no large housing developments were noted.
Housing in the area is more affordable than the Vermont state benchmark, with typical home values sitting below both the state and national figures. The county market shows median listing prices well above the school's zip-code valuation, suggesting a range of stock from modest village homes to higher-priced properties elsewhere in Windsor County. Homes are taking longer to sell than they were a year ago, and the supply-and-demand balance has softened somewhat, giving buyers a bit more room than in the recent past. Estimated monthly mortgage costs and the price-to-income ratio indicate a market that is stretchable for local wages but not out of reach for families with steady incomes.
At the district level, the Green Mountain Unified School District proposed a budget increase in early 2025 alongside plans to restructure its elementary schools. Those changes, if adopted, would affect class sizes, staffing, and programming across the district's elementary campuses, including Chester Andover. Families considering the school should watch how that restructuring unfolds, as it may reshape the experience for current and incoming students in the near term.
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