School Choice

To accommodate occasions when a student might benefit from placement in a school outside a K-6 student’s town of residence, RVUSD offers students the option to enroll in a school of their choice within the RVUSD District. Processes for intra-district choice of school will be guided by the needs of students, space availability, and existing resources.

Please read the two documents listed below for more information about school choice in the River Valley school district:

River_Valleys_School_Choice_Application.pdf

F50-RVSD-2022.pdf

Our Two Unique Schools

Timeline and Deadlines

Timeline for the Parental School Choice Program for Dover School and Wardsboro Elementary School in The River Valleys Unified School District.

March 1^st – The River Valley Unified School District Elementary communicate to parents the availability of school choice and where to access information if they wish to apply for school choice.

March 1^st to March 30^th – Parent(s) or guardian(s) fill out a school choice form for each child-indicate school of choice, and include a brief letter of explanation why you are requesting school choice, and return the form

By mail – The River Valleys Unified School District, 9 Schoolhouse Road, Dover VT, 05341
In person to the Windham Central Supervisory Union Office
Or via email to the Sue Haskins at [email protected]

March 31^st – School Choice applications due. If parents want to exercise school choice, all forms are due either via mail, dropped off in person at the WCSU -River Valleys Unified School District office, or via email.

May 1^st – Schools will mail letters to parents/guardians explaining the school choice placement for their child and general information and timelines for their son/daughter’s individual school.

August 1^st– Teacher assignment will occur within each school and letters will be sent home with the teacher placement.

School Choice FAQs

What is school choice and who is allowed to exercise school choice?

Children entering PreK who live in the towns of Dover and Wardsboro may exercise school choice. Our goal is to both allow options for families and also make balanced class sizes to provide a positive learning environment for all of our children. Parents may apply for choice in any of the K through sixth grade schools. Given space availability, we will work to meet as many families’ needs as possible. By exercising a local school choice options we can:

Create balanced class sizes in all schools
Eliminate, combine or divide too small or too large classes
Create optimal learning environments in all schools
Meet diverse needs that parents and families have for their children
Provide options

Who gets school choice?

School choice will be limited to the amount of available space in each building. If you are interested in choosing a school other than the one located in your town, you complete and submit the school choice form. Once we receive all the applications, we will assign students. If there is more interest in one particular school than spaces available, we will conduct a lottery.

Does this mean that one of our schools will close?

School choice has no reflection on closing a school.

Will my child be able to attend this same school for all of his/her elementary years?

Your child will be able to attend the same school and continue through the highest grade offered at that school.

If we exercise school choice and we have younger child(ren), will he or she also be able to attend the choice school?

Younger siblings entering school after a child who has exercised school choice may attend the same school as his or her older sibling. We will make every effort to meet the needs of families so children in the same family can enroll in the same school-both younger and older siblings.

My child is currently attending one particular school and we feel a change of schools would be in his/her best interest, what if we would like school choice next year?

Please fill out the RVUSD school choice forms.

What do we do if, after a year or two of exercising school choice, we want to change back to our original school?

In future years we hope to continue school choice, and you would re-apply for school choice for your hometown school. Choice will be provided if space is available.

If more children want to exercise school choice than spaces available who gets priority?

First priority goes to children who live in the home-based geographic area of a school. If parents list a choice school that is not in their home-based geographic area, and there are more children interested than spaces available, the school will conduct a lottery. Once school choice is established, siblings will be given priority for school choice. Please referto the school choice guidelines for more information.

Who will my son/daughter's teacher be?

At this point we have not made teacher assignments for any of our classes. Once we receive all applications, teachers will be assigned based on numbers. We will send out classroom teacher assignments to elementary families in late spring.

Is ____ teacher teaching grade at ____ school next year?

Please see the building principal for information about teacher placement.

What if I miss the deadline for school choice?

We will honor requests for school choice after the deadline only if there is space available on a first come, first served basis.

How will I know if my child got their first choice school?

We will notify parents of their school by May via mail.

Intradistrict School Choice

Timeline and Deadlines

School Choice FAQs