Academic Policies

Report cards are issued 3 times a year. Parent conferences are held in November and March to give parents and teachers opportunities to discuss the child’s academic and social progress, share information, and build the parent-teacher partnership. Report cards are sent home with children on the day before those conferences. The final report card is sent home with children on the last day of school. Report cards evaluate children’s work in relation to their expected level of performance in the academic areas. The extent to which they “respect other people” and “do their job” is also evaluated.

Homework is assigned in gradually increasing amounts through the grades, to provide independent practice in skills already learned, to develop responsibility and self-discipline, and to give students opportunities for independent exploration and discovery.
- In grades 1 and 2, children are expected to read daily, and to complete four or more assignments weekly. Homework folders are used to support communication.
- In grades 3 and 4, students can expect 30 minutes of homework four nights a week.
- In grades 5 and 6, students will be assigned 40 to 60 minutes per night; in addition, students are given some long-term assignments.

We encourage parents to take an interest in their child’s work; to provide a quiet place to work and help the child develop a routine for doing the work; and to allow the child to be responsible for completing it. Contact the teacher if there’s a problem.

Placement, promotion and retention decisions are made by the principal, in consultation with the faculty, in the best interest of the student, considering the student’s academic achievement and needs, as well as age, social/emotional maturity, and the wishes of the child’s parents.

To be eligible to enter Kindergarten, a child must be 5 on or before Sept. 1, which is also the cutoff date for 3 and 4 year olds in P3 or P4 classes.

Standardized achievement testing is administered annually to students in grades 3, 4, 5 and 6 using tests developed by The New England Common Assessment Program. The NECAP’s meaure students’ progress toward the Vermont Grade-level Expections in Reading, Mathematics, and Writing. In addition, 2nd graders take the Vermont Developmental Reading Assessment. Individual test results are provided to parents and school-wide scores are reported in the Annual Report for Town Meeting.

Student Records may be inspected and reviewed by parents upon appointment with the principal. Legally, the request should be in writing, and honored within 30 days. You may ask to see all materials that are incorporated into your own child’s cumulative record folder and are intended for school use or to be available to parties outside the school or school system. This specifically includes, but is not necessarily limited to, identifying data, academic work completed, level of achievement, special education records, attendance data, scores on standardized intelligence, aptitude and psychological tests, health data, family background information, teacher or counselor ratings and observations, and verified reports of serious or recurrent behavior patterns.