The top reported proficiency rate is 30% in English language arts. The lowest is 11% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Barton Graded School
Barton Graded School sits on Church Street in the village of Barton, a small rural town in Vermont's Northeast Kingdom. The town spreads across two incorporated villages, Barton and Orleans, each with its own trustees and library, and serves as a regional service center for the smaller surrounding communities. Ethan Allen Manufacturing in Orleans is the dominant employer, and the town has a hospital, grocery stores, and a nursing home that anchor local employment. Crystal Lake State Park sits in town, and the Orleans County Fair draws people to the Barton Fairgrounds each August. Interstate 91 runs through, along with several state and US routes, giving residents access to neighboring communities. Housing here is modest relative to Vermont and national benchmarks, with typical home values well below the state figure, which may appeal to families seeking affordability in a rural setting.
The school serves pre-kindergarten through eighth grade and belongs to the Lake Region Union Elementary Middle School District. Enrollment is small, with roughly a dozen or fewer students per grade. The student body is predominantly white, with a small number of Hispanic students and a handful identifying as two or more races. A substantial majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the economic conditions of the surrounding community. Data on English-learner status and individualized education programs was not available, so those pieces of the picture are missing here.
Academic results from Vermont's Comprehensive Assessment Program for the most recent reported year tell a mixed story, though one shaped heavily by very small testing groups. In several grades, results were suppressed, likely because the number of tested students fell below reporting thresholds. Where results are reported, English language arts is the relative bright spot. Roughly a third of fifth and sixth graders reached proficiency, with seventh grade falling below that. In math, the reported proficiency rates are low across grades five, six, and seven, with only a fraction of students meeting the standard. Science results follow a similar pattern, with eighth grade stronger than fifth. Because each grade tests fewer than twenty students, a single student's performance shifts the percentage meaningfully, and a parent reading these results should keep that volatility in mind. A parent may want to look into how the school supports math instruction in particular, given the pattern across grades.
No graduation rate applies here, since the school does not extend into high school grades. Students presumably transition to Lake Region Union High School for secondary education, though that pathway is not detailed in the available data. The neighbor comparison, set relative to districts in Orleans County, could not place this school on a proficiency index or graduation measure because the cohort was too small or the relevant values were missing. This does not signal weakness; it reflects the limits of what can be compared for a school of this size in a county with sparse district-level data.
One district-level feature stands out for families considering this area. Since the 2021-2022 school year, the Lake Region Union Elementary Middle School District has operated a K-8 school choice policy. Students may apply to attend any of the district's six elementary or middle schools outside their home town, though busing is provided only to the school in the student's town of residence. This gives parents some flexibility to select among district schools, a factor worth weighing alongside Barton Graded School's academic profile.
Barton itself is a place shaped by water power and rail, then by Interstate 91, and then by a historic flood from which the village economy never fully recovered. The built environment reflects that mill-town past, with development concentrated along the Barton and Clyde Rivers. Street life is limited; the villages function as small commercial nodes rather than walkable downtowns. No major new housing developments surfaced in publicly reported research on the town. For a family weighing a move here, the appeal is likely affordability, rural character, access to outdoor recreation at Crystal Lake, and the small-school setting. The academic data, particularly in math, is something a parent would want to discuss directly with the school before deciding whether the fit is right.
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