The top reported proficiency rate is 34% in English language arts. The lowest is 16% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Rutland Intermediate School
Rutland Intermediate School sits in the heart of Vermont's third-largest city, a place that has reinvented itself more than once. Rutland earned the nickname "Marble City" for its once-dominant quarry industry, but those quarries shut down in the late twentieth century and the local economy shifted toward healthcare, utilities, and waste management. Today the city functions as a regional service hub for southern and central Vermont, with a walkable downtown anchored by the Paramount Theater, the Rutland Free Library, and the Marble Valley Regional Transit Center. U.S. Routes 4 and 7 overlap along Main Street, the city's commercial spine, and an Amtrak line connects Rutland to New York City and Burlington. Pine Hill Park at the city's edge offers miles of mountain-biking and hiking trails. The housing market here sits below both state and national benchmarks, with typical home values well under what buyers face in much of Vermont, and rents that remain comparatively modest.
The school itself serves grades three through six and is part of Rutland City School District. Enrollment is moderate for a school spanning four grade levels. A large majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the economic realities of a post-industrial community that has absorbed significant job losses over the decades. The student body is predominantly white, with small populations of students identifying as Hispanic, multiracial, Black, Asian, and American Indian or Alaska Native. The school does not carry charter or magnet status. We looked for data on individualized education programs and English learner services and found that those figures were not reported, so a parent wanting detail on special populations would need to ask the school directly.
State assessment results from the Vermont Comprehensive Assessment Program are available and tell a mixed story. In English language arts, proficiency sits in the low-to-mid range across all four grade levels, with the strongest showing in grade three and fairly consistent results in grades four through six. These results suggest that a meaningful portion of students are reading and writing at or above grade-level expectations, though there is clear room for growth. Mathematics results are weaker, with proficiency falling well below the ELA marks across every grade. Science, tested only in grade five, shows a similarly low proficiency level. A parent may want to look into the school's math and science instruction further, particularly how the building supports students who are working below grade level and whether interventions are in place to close those gaps. No multi-year trend data was available, so it is difficult to say whether these results represent a decline, a plateau, or a starting point for improvement.
Because the school serves only intermediate elementary grades, there is no graduation rate to report and no high school course access or career pathway data to assess. The state does not test science in grades three, four, or six, so the single grade-five science result is the only one available. We also found no data on chronic absenteeism, discipline, staffing ratios, or course offerings, which limits the picture of day-to-day school climate and resources. What the available data does convey is a school serving a community with real economic challenges, where the majority of families access meal assistance and where academic results in literacy outpace those in math and science.
Rutland itself offers families a dense civic and cultural infrastructure for a city of its size, with regular downtown events, a summer concert series, farmers' markets, and an annual Halloween parade that is among the oldest of its kind in the region. The city's major employers include a large regional medical center, a General Electric aircraft engines facility, and Casella Waste Systems. Public school campuses appear to sit apart from the downtown core rather than integrated into it. The Rutland City School District brief turned up little in the way of recently reported parent-relevant changes such as referendums, curriculum shifts, or property tax adjustments, so we left that area alone rather than guess.
For a family considering this school, the picture is one of a community-rooted institution in a city that has weathered economic transition and continues to rebuild its identity. The literacy results are the relative bright spot; the math and science numbers are the area most worth probing. The economic profile of the student body means the school is doing work that extends well beyond academics, and understanding what support structures exist for families would be an important part of any visit or conversation with school leadership.
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