The top reported proficiency rate is 29% in Math. The lowest is 28% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Bakersfield School
Bakersfield School sits in a small, rural residential town in southeastern Franklin County, in Vermont's Islands and Farms region. The town carries a quiet, agrarian character, with a compact village center along the main north-south route surrounded by open land and the Cold Hollow Mountains rising to the east. The area has a deep educational history. Publicly reported sources note that Bakersfield was once called an "old academy town" for its college-preparatory schools, and Brigham Academy served as the town's primary educational institution for decades before closing. Today the school is part of the Northern Mountain Valley Unified Union School District, and the town itself has seen a stable but slightly declining population with no major new housing or commercial development identified.
The school serves pre-kindergarten through eighth grade, which means there is no graduation rate to report. That gap reflects the grade band, not a missing result. State testing covers grades three through eight, and the available results come from the Vermont Comprehensive Assessment Program for the most recent school year. Many grade-level results were suppressed, a common practice when cohort sizes are small enough that reporting could identify individual students. What was reported shows a mixed academic picture. In math, third-grade proficiency was moderate while fourth-grade proficiency was lower. In English language arts, third-grade proficiency was modest, and sixth-grade results came in somewhat higher but still below what most families would hope to see. Science results for fifth and eighth grade were suppressed. Because so many grade levels were suppressed and the tested cohorts are small, a parent may want to look into the school's broader academic picture directly, since year-to-year results in a school this size can swing sharply with just a few students.
The comparison fact-set places the school relative to districts in Franklin County, but the proficiency index was not applicable because the cohort of comparable schools was too small. Graduation rate and chronic absenteeism metrics were also not available for this entity, the former because the school does not serve high school grades and the latter because no data was provided.
The student body is small for its grade band, with a substantial share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. The demographic makeup is nearly entirely white, with a small number of Hispanic students and a small number identifying as two or more races. Data on students with individualized education programs and English learners was not available in the provided material, so those profiles cannot be characterized here. No information on discipline, course access, staffing, or attendance was provided either, which leaves a gap for families wanting to understand the school's day-to-day environment and support structure.
On housing, the area is modestly priced relative to the Vermont state benchmark, sitting somewhat below the statewide typical home value and close to the national benchmark. The price-to-income ratio suggests that buying a home here is within reach for many working families compared with hotter Vermont markets, though mortgage costs at current interest rates still represent a real monthly commitment. No rental data was available for the area. The town has no identified public transit system or public library, and no major employers were found in available search results, which is consistent with its rural residential character. The town clerk's office operates on a limited weekday schedule.
For a family considering Bakersfield School, the picture is one of a small, rural community school with deep local roots and a close-knit setting. The available test results are thin and mixed, and the small cohort sizes mean that any single year's scores should be read with caution. What is missing from the data is substantial: no staffing, discipline, attendance, course access, special population, or program information was provided, and much of the state testing was suppressed. A parent weighing this school would benefit from asking the administration directly about academic support, enrichment offerings, class configurations across the combined grades, and how the school uses its small size to advantage in areas like individual attention and community connection.
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