Original Research by School Decision on Union Memorial School
Union Memorial School is an early-elementary public school in Colchester, Vermont, serving pre-kindergarten through second grade as part of Colchester School District. It sits on Main Street in a town that borders Burlington to the north and spreads along the eastern shore of Lake Champlain. Because the school covers only the youngest grades, there is no state testing data to report here. Vermont's assessments begin in third grade, so a school ending at second grade sits outside that testing framework by design. The same applies to graduation rates, which do not exist for a school with no high school grades. These gaps reflect the grade band, not a shortcoming.
The enrollment is small, as you would expect for a primary school serving just three grade levels. Kindergarten, first, and second each carry a roughly similar share of students, and the pre-kindergarten figures reported show no enrolled PK students despite the grade being listed in the school's range. A parent considering this school for a pre-kindergarten child may want to confirm directly with the district whether PK seats are available here or placed elsewhere in Colchester.
The student body is predominantly white, with smaller shares of Asian, multiracial, Black, and Hispanic students, and a tiny number of American Indian or Alaska Native students. Roughly four in ten students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which gives a picture of a school with a real mix of economic backgrounds rather than a uniformly affluent one. Data on special education enrollment and English learner status was not available, so those dimensions of the student population cannot be characterized here.
Colchester itself is a suburban, car-dependent town with no single concentrated downtown. Municipal functions cluster around Town Hall on Blakely Road, while commercial activity runs along the US Route 2 and Route 7 corridors, where big-box retailers like Costco and Shaw's sit alongside smaller businesses. Interstate 89 cuts through with two exits serving the town. Green Mountain Transit runs bus service along the Route 7 corridor in the southeastern part of town, but the overall development pattern is dispersed around highway exits, the Malletts Bay shoreline, and separate campus and institutional locations. Saint Michael's College and the Vermont National Guard add institutional weight to the local economy, and major employers span healthcare, education, retail, utilities, and manufacturing.
The housing market in the school's zip code sits well above both the Vermont and national benchmarks for typical home values. Rents are also on the higher side relative to the state. The price-to-income ratio is elevated compared with national norms, and the estimated monthly cost of ownership exceeds the estimated monthly rent by a meaningful margin. For families weighing a move into this school zone, the housing market leans toward the expensive end, and buying carries a steeper cost burden than renting at current mortgage rates. Home values have risen modestly over the past year, while the broader state has seen slightly faster appreciation.
The town's lakeshore areas draw seasonal vacationers, and Malletts Bay functions as something of a focal point with marinas, shoreline residences, and Bayside Park. Niquette Bay State Park offers hiking and swimming nearby. Colchester's population has grown modestly over recent decades, and the town has pursued municipal sustainability projects, including solar arrays at the Recreation Center. Publicly reported updates from mid-2023 pointed to ongoing infrastructure activity around the Exit 16 interchange.
Union Memorial is one of three elementary schools feeding into Colchester's middle and high schools, and its role is narrow and foundational: the earliest years of formal schooling, in a town that is suburban in feel, economically mixed, and tied closely to the Burlington metro area.
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