The top reported proficiency rate is 36% in English language arts. The lowest is 35% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Arlington Memorial
Arlington Memorial is a public school serving grades six through twelve in the town of Arlington, Vermont, part of the Arlington School District in Bennington County. It is a small school for its grade span, with a relatively even distribution of students across the seven grades it serves. The student body is predominantly white, with a small number of students identifying as Asian, Hispanic, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, or two or more races. Just under half of the students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which gives a sense of the economic mix within the community. The school is not a charter or magnet school. Data on individualized education programs, English learner status, Title I status, staffing, course access, attendance, and discipline was not available in the provided materials, so those dimensions cannot be characterized here.
On state assessments, the picture is limited. Most grade-level results in math across grades six, seven, and eight were suppressed, meaning the state did not publish them, typically because of small testing cohorts in a school of this size. The same was true for English language arts in grades six and eight. One ELA result was reported for grade seven, showing proficiency below the midpoint, and one science result was reported for grade eight, also in a lower range. These are the only reported proficiency figures available, and because so many cells were suppressed, it is hard to form a reliable overall picture of academic performance from state testing alone. No multi-year trend data was available, and no nationally standardized academic context was provided. A parent wanting a fuller read on classroom outcomes may want to ask the school directly about recent assessment results and how it tracks student progress year to year.
No graduation rate data was provided for Arlington Memorial. The comparison set used for this school, relative to districts in Bennington County, could not produce a proficiency index, graduation comparison, or chronic absenteeism comparison because the entity's own values were missing or the cohort was too small. This means the school sits outside the available benchmarking framework rather than performing poorly within it, and the absence should not be read as a negative signal on its own.
The town of Arlington is a small rural community in the Valley of Vermont, positioned between the Taconic Range to the west and the Green Mountains to the east, with the Battenkill River running through its center. The river is well known for trout fishing and serves as a natural anchor for daily life. The built environment is spread out along Vermont Route 7A, the main corridor through town, with identifiable village centers in Arlington, East Arlington, and West Arlington. The overall density is low and the layout is car-dependent, with minimal street life outside the village clusters. Mack Moulding is the largest local employer, and Orvis, headquartered in neighboring Sunderland, is a major employer for Arlington residents. The town has deep historic roots, having served as the first capital of the Vermont Republic, and is associated with Norman Rockwell, who lived there. Arlington Memorial High School itself functions as a civic hub: Town Meeting and elections are held in the school gymnasium, integrating the school into the community's public life rather than sitting apart on a remote campus.
Housing in the area sits below the Vermont state benchmark and modestly above the national benchmark, with values having declined slightly over the past year. The price-to-income ratio suggests a market that is somewhat stretched relative to typical household earnings, which is consistent with much of rural Vermont. No specific information about major new housing developments or population growth trends was identified in available sources, and census figures suggest very slow growth over the past two decades. The district brief turned up no parent-relevant changes of lasting impact.
For a family considering Arlington Memorial, the defining characteristics are its small size, its rural setting in a historic Vermont valley town, and its role as both a school and a community gathering place. The academic data available is thin, largely because small cohorts suppress most published results, so parents would benefit from direct conversations with the school about curriculum, student support, and outcomes.
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