The top reported proficiency rate is 46% in English language arts. The lowest is 27% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Fair Haven Grade School
Fair Haven Grade School sits on North Main Street in the town of Fair Haven, Vermont, serving children from prekindergarten through sixth grade as part of the Slate Valley Unified Union School District. It is a traditional public school, not a charter or magnet, and it functions as the town's elementary pathway. The enrollment is modest for a school covering eight grade levels, with relatively even distribution across the grades, and it draws from a community where the student population is predominantly white, with only a small handful of students identifying as Black, Hispanic, or multiracial. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which is a defining characteristic of the school's economic context and one a parent would want to understand when thinking about the peer environment and the kinds of supports the school likely prioritizes.
The academic picture is limited but not empty. Vermont uses the Vermont Comprehensive Assessment Program, and for the most recent reported year, Fair Haven Grade School's results were available only for fifth grade. Results for third, fourth, and sixth grades were suppressed, which often reflects small testing populations and privacy thresholds rather than a problem with the school. The fifth-grade data that was reported shows ELA proficiency landing at a moderate level, with math somewhat below that, and science coming in lower still. Taken together, the available results suggest that a sizable portion of fifth graders are not yet meeting state proficiency benchmarks, especially in math and science. A parent considering this school may want to look into this further with the school, asking how instruction is structured across those subjects and what intervention or support systems are in place for students who are below grade level. The single grade of data makes it hard to draw a broad conclusion about the school's overall academic trajectory, and no multi-year trend information was available to show whether results are improving, holding steady, or declining.
No graduation rate applies here, since the school tops out at sixth grade and does not include high school grades. No chronic absenteeism data was available, and no comparison against other Rutland County districts could be computed for proficiency or attendance, so the school cannot be reliably positioned against its neighbors on those measures. Information on special populations, including students with individualized education programs and English learners, was not reported. Course access, staffing, discipline, and program offerings were also absent from the available data, so there is little to describe beyond the assessment results and basic enrollment figures. The district-level search for parent-relevant changes such as curriculum updates, property tax shifts, or referendums did not return substantive findings, so there is nothing concrete to report on recent district developments.
The housing context in Fair Haven is one of relative affordability compared with the rest of Vermont. Typical home values in the school's zip code sit well below the state benchmark and also below the national figure, which makes the area comparatively accessible for families looking to buy. The estimated monthly mortgage payment, based on current interest rates and a standard down payment, is moderate relative to the area's home prices. Rental data was not available, so a renter family would need to look elsewhere for a sense of local market conditions. The broader economic backdrop includes a national unemployment rate that has been holding steady, and median household income has been rising gradually in recent years, though those are national figures rather than Fair Haven specifics.
For a family weighing this school, the core questions are academic. The one grade of reported test results is not enough to characterize the school with confidence, and the suppressed results for other grades leave a real gap. What is clear is that this is a small, community elementary school serving a town where home prices are relatively modest and a large share of families qualify for income-based assistance. A parent would do well to visit, ask about math and science instruction in the upper elementary grades, and request the school's own picture of how students progress from year to year, since the publicly reported data only opens a narrow window.
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