The top reported proficiency rate is 49% in English language arts. The lowest is 21% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Fair Haven Union Middle and High School
Fair Haven Union Middle and High School sits on Mechanic Street in Fair Haven, Vermont, serving grades seven through twelve as part of the Slate Valley Unified Union School District. It is a traditional public school, neither a charter nor a magnet, and its enrollment is modest for a combined middle-high school spanning six grade levels. The student body is predominantly white, and a substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the economic profile of this stretch of western Rutland County along the New York border.
State assessment data from the most recent reporting year covers only the middle grades, since Vermont's testing program does not include every grade the school serves. In seventh-grade math, proficiency was moderate, with roughly two in five students meeting the bar. Eighth-grade math was markedly lower, with only a small fraction of students scoring proficient, a result that stands out and that a parent may want to look into further with the school. English language arts results were stronger: more than half of seventh graders reached proficiency, and eighth-grade ELA proficiency was also in a higher range than math. Science was tested only in eighth grade, and the proficient share there was low, consistent with the math drop in that same grade. No high school-level state testing results were provided, so the academic picture here is limited to the middle grades.
Several areas where a parent might expect data were not available. The school's graduation rate was not reported in the dataset, and the four-year graduation rate could not be compared against other Rutland County districts for that reason. Chronic absenteeism figures were also missing. No data on staffing ratios, course access, or discipline was provided. Information on students with individualized education programs and English learners was not reported, so the picture of special-population support is incomplete. No program offerings, such as AP courses, dual-enrollment, or career and technical pathways, appeared in the data, and the district-level search returned only basic directory information without details on recent curriculum changes, property tax shifts, or other parent-relevant developments. We looked for a locale brief on Fair Haven and did not find one, so community context is thin.
The housing market in the school's zip code offers an affordable entry point relative to both Vermont and national benchmarks. The typical home value sits well below the state and national figures, and the price-to-income ratio is modest by current standards, meaning a household earning near the national median income could find ownership relatively attainable here, even with mortgage rates elevated. Rental data was not available. The unemployment picture has been stable. A parent considering this area is looking at a lower-cost corner of Rutland County, and the housing affordability may be part of what draws families to the district.
When the school is placed against other districts in Rutland County, the comparison set is small enough that proficiency-index comparisons were not computed, and the other key metrics, graduation and attendance, could not be positioned because the underlying values were missing. So there is no county-relative read on academic outcomes to offer here.
What the available data does convey is a small combined middle-high school in an affordable Vermont community, with middle-grade ELA results that outpace its math and science results, a sharp eighth-grade math dip that warrants attention, and broad gaps in the publicly reported picture that leave a parent without information on graduation, attendance, staffing, advanced coursework, and special-population services. A family evaluating this school would benefit from asking the administration directly about those areas, particularly high school programming and the eighth-grade math results, before drawing conclusions.
See more original research from School Decision →