Three public school districts in Chittenden County received overall grades ranging from B to C− in Niche’s latest county evaluations—the lowest marks among its eight listed districts.
The 2027 evaluations reveal some striking differences beneath those overall letters. One featured district earned an A− for teachers, while another received an A− for college preparation.
Meanwhile, families are navigating developments that extend beyond a report card: a newly opened high school and technical center, an approved budget with staffing reductions, and opportunities to earn graduation credit through college courses and community learning.
Burlington School District — Overall Niche Grade: B
Burlington School District received a B overall from Niche, placing it at the highest end of this three-district selection.
The district serves Burlington from preschool through 12th grade. Federal education records report 3,429 students in 2024–25 and approximately 10.9 students per full-time-equivalent teacher. That staffing ratio is not an average class size.
College Preparation Stands Above the Overall Grade
Niche awarded Burlington an A− for college preparation and a B for academics. Its profile reports 55% reading proficiency and 37% math proficiency, identifying the figures as results from Vermont’s 2024–25 statewide testing program.
That reading-math difference deserves attention: the districtwide percentages suggest substantially more tested students reached proficiency in reading than in mathematics.
Completion is another concern. Burlington’s 2025 annual report, released in February 2026, lists a 75% four-year cohort graduation rate for 2023–24, compared with 82% statewide.
Those are separate outcomes from Niche’s college-preparation evaluation.
A New Campus After Years of Disruption
The district’s most visible change arrived this fall. Burlington High School and Burlington Technical Center reunited on a new campus for the 2026–27 school year, following the former campus’s closure over PCB contamination in 2020.
The district’s grand-opening announcement describes the intervening arrangement: high school students attended a renovated Macy’s, while technical programs operated at multiple locations.
The technical center offers options including automotive technology, aviation, digital media and health sciences. Its return to a shared campus changes students’ daily learning environment, although it is too early to attribute academic improvements to the move.
For current families, the building story has entered a new chapter. Older descriptions of Burlington’s temporary classrooms no longer describe the setting students encounter today.
Milton Town School District — Overall Niche Grade: B−
Listed by Niche as Milton School District, Milton Town School District received a B− overall on its current profile.
The district serves Milton through elementary, middle and high schools, with a preschool-through-grade-12 span. Its 2024–25 federal record lists 1,468 students and approximately 10.6 students per full-time-equivalent teacher.
An A− for Teachers, With Proficiency Still a Challenge
Milton’s A− teacher grade is a notable strength within its report card. Niche also awarded B grades for clubs and activities and resources and facilities, while academics received B−.
Its profile reports 46% reading proficiency and 31% math proficiency on Vermont’s 2024–25 statewide assessments. Both figures leave a substantial share of tested students below proficiency, especially in mathematics.
The district’s 2026–27 continuous improvement plan identifies academic proficiency and student engagement as connected priorities.
It emphasizes math and literacy instruction, clear learning targets and focused feedback, alongside family partnerships intended to improve belonging and daily attendance.
Those priorities describe the district’s approach; they do not establish that the intended improvements have already occurred.
An Approved Budget With Fewer Positions
Milton’s financial decisions have immediate relevance for families. Voters approved a revised school budget on May 19, 2026, after the district reduced its earlier proposal.
According to WCAX’s reporting on the successful revote, the plan eliminated eight full-time positions, reduced some transportation services and used $730,000 from reserves. The vote was 972–851.
The district’s budget materials identify transportation reductions involving one home-to-school bus and two preschool buses.
These changes make staffing assignments and transportation arrangements useful details for families to examine this year. The approved spending plan provides more concrete information about current operations than the overall B− alone.
Winooski School District — Overall Niche Grade: C−
Winooski School District received a C− overall, the lowest grade in Niche’s Chittenden County listing.
Serving Winooski from preschool through 12th grade, it is also the smallest district featured here. Federal records report 762 students in 2024–25 and approximately 8.9 students per full-time-equivalent teacher.
Low Proficiency, With Stronger Extracurricular Marks
Niche awarded Winooski a D+ for academics, alongside a B+ for clubs and activities. Its profile reports 39% reading proficiency and 20% math proficiency from Vermont’s 2024–25 statewide assessments.
The mathematics result is particularly concerning: only one in five tested students reached the reported proficiency threshold. Reading proficiency was higher, but still below half.
Those districtwide results establish an academic challenge.
They do not measure every learning opportunity available to an individual student, particularly at the high school, where Winooski offers several ways to demonstrate skills and complete graduation requirements.
Graduation Work Extends Beyond Traditional Classes
The district’s school counseling department explains a proficiency-based system in which students demonstrate specific skills through coursework and other learning experiences.
High school students must complete a communication capstone and two additional capstones chosen from areas including creativity, critical thinking, culture and community, persistence, and wellbeing.
These projects provide opportunities to apply learning over a sustained period.
Winooski also lists flexible pathways that include community internships, college coursework, virtual courses and technical education at Burlington Technical Center or the Center for Technology, Essex.
The two technical-center arrangements differ: Burlington’s is described as a half-day program, while Essex’s operates for a full day. Students work with counselors to consider which setting fits their educational goals.
These options broaden the choices available within a small district. Their availability is a meaningful part of the school experience, while their effectiveness must be judged separately through student progress and completion outcomes.
A Stronger County Field—and Shared Opportunities
The other five districts in Niche’s county listing earned higher overall grades. South Burlington and Champlain Valley Unified received A−, while Colchester, Essex Westford and Mount Mansfield Unified received B+.
That makes the phrase “lowest grades” a relative comparison across a field whose overall marks extend from A− to C−. Burlington’s B and Winooski’s C− represent distinctly different evaluations, even though both fall within the selected three.
Under Niche’s 2027 methodology, overall grades combine academic information with factors including teacher measures, school culture, family feedback, resources and extracurricular opportunities.
These are Niche evaluations, separate from Vermont’s state accountability reporting.
Local educational opportunities also cross district boundaries. Winooski students can attend Burlington Technical Center, so an investment located in one district can matter to families enrolled in another.
The practical comparison therefore includes both a student’s home district and the regional programs they can access.
