The top reported proficiency rate is 45% in English language arts. The lowest is 26% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Highgate Elementary School
Highgate Elementary School sits in the small rural village of Highgate Center, Vermont, within the Missisquoi Valley School District. It is a public school serving prekindergarten through sixth grade, drawing families from a community that spreads along the Route 78 corridor on the north side of the Missisquoi River. The village is primarily residential, compact rather than gridded, with civic life clustered around the Town Office Complex on Route 78. Nearby road connections link the village to Swanton a few miles southwest and St. Albans a bit farther south, placing Highgate within reach of larger town amenities while keeping its rural character.
The school enrolls a modest number of students across its grade bands, with class sizes small enough that each grade cohort is intimate. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the working-class economic texture of the village. The student body is predominantly white, with a meaningful portion identifying as two or more races and smaller groups identifying as American Indian or Alaska Native and Hispanic. Data on English learners and students with individualized education programs was not available in the provided materials, so those population details remain unreported here.
Academically, the most recent state assessment results come from the Vermont Comprehensive Assessment Program in the 2023 to 2024 school year. In English language arts, the school shows a pattern of relative strength in the earlier grades. Third grade reached about half proficient, and fourth grade was the brightest spot, with a clear majority of students meeting proficiency. Fifth grade ELA results dropped sharply, and sixth grade recovered to just under half. Mathematics followed a similar arc but at generally lower levels. Third grade math saw just under half of students proficient, fourth grade dipped, fifth grade was the weakest result across all tested subjects and grades, and sixth grade rebounded to a level comparable to third grade. Science was tested only in fifth grade, where proficiency was low. A parent may want to look into the fifth grade results across subjects with the school, as that cohort's performance stands apart from the others. No multiyear trend data was available, so it is unclear whether these patterns are consistent over time or specific to this particular year's cohorts. Participation rate data was also not reported.
Because the school does not serve high school grades, there is no graduation rate to report. No chronic absenteeism, discipline, course access, staffing, or Title I data was available in the provided materials. The neighbor comparison, which positions the school relative to districts in Franklin County, could not produce a proficiency index or absenteeism comparison because the cohort was too small and the school-level values were not reported. We looked for the district's recent parent-relevant changes through a district brief covering Highgate Center, Franklin, and Swanton, but found little, so we left it out rather than guess.
On the housing side, the local market in the school's zip code sits below both the Vermont state benchmark and the national benchmark for typical home values, which may appeal to families seeking affordability relative to the broader region. The estimated monthly mortgage cost at current interest rates is modest by national standards, and the price-to-income ratio hovers near a level that suggests moderate stretching for local wage earners. Rental data was not available for this area. The town has recently updated its municipal plan and zoning regulations and holds a Village Center Designation, which signals an interest in maintaining a recognizable community core, though no specific major housing developments were identified in available sources.
For a family considering Highgate Elementary, the picture is one of a small, community-rooted school in a rural Vermont village with affordable housing relative to the state. Academic results are mixed, with genuine strengths in early grade literacy and reasonable math outcomes in the entry and exit grades, alongside a clear soft spot in fifth grade across subjects. The absence of trend data, program details, staffing information, and several demographic measures means that a visit to the school or a conversation with district staff would help fill in what the public data does not capture.
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