History of Reading Elementary

The history of Reading’s schools is linked to the rise and fall of the town's student population. In 1861, Reading had 10 school districts housing 264 students. Some of the schools were Baileys Mills or Mann School, District No. 5, near Dexter Buck’s Farm, and the Bell School. Each of the 10 schools had children in every grade from kindergarten to eighth. 

At the turn of the last century, there were only five schools in Reading. The town’s children went to South Reading (35 students), Felchville (25), Baileys Mills (20), Sawyer (12), and Sherwin (8). That's 100 students, 164 fewer than there were 43 years earlier.

In 1936, the select board allocated the funds to build a new school in Felchville, known as Maple Grove School, rather than repair the old school. It opened the following year. One by one, all the remaining districts closed except for South Reading. The Felchville school turned into a primary and grammar school, while the school at South Reading continued to teach all grades until the 1950s.  South Reading then began housing only seventh- and eighth-grade students.

In 1960, the state deemed that class size be capped at 20 students. Now a town with a declining population faced what seems like an unexpected problem: overcrowding. For about two decades, the school board moved certain grades to the South Reading school to help reach this goal. In 1980, that school closed, and every student attended the Felchville school. In 1979, 80 preschoolers went to the Reading Christian Church building for classes. 

That, however, wasn't the end of shifting students around. In 1983 the town voted to send its seventh and eighth graders to other junior high schools. The Felchville school became the Reading Elementary School we know today, except for the recent addition of pre-K students.

In 1989, the Woodstock Union High School District accepted Reading as it newest member. Reading updated and renovated its last remaining school (Felchville) in 1995, while maintaining the multi-age classroom philosophy. Reading Elementary School is the o­nly remaining school of the 13 original schools serving the town of Reading.

In 2018-19, Reading Elementary School District was merged with the towns of Bridgewater, Killington, Plymouth and Pomfret to form the Windsor Central Modified Unified Union School District.  A year later, beginning with the 2019-20 school year, the Reading Elementary School was reconfigured from a PreK to Grade 6 school, to a PreK to Grade 3 school in three multiage classrooms. Students in grades 4-6 began attending Woodstock Elementary School. 

The PreK - Grade 6 enrollment in October 2018 was 54; the K-6 enrollment was 37.

The PreK - Grade 3 enrollment in October 2019 was 37; the K-3 enrollment was 28. As of December 13, 2019, the K-3 enrollment was 25, for a total school enrollment of 34. 

Beginning with the 2021-22 school year, 4th grade was added back to RES, mainly because The Prosper Valley School was reopened as a grade 5 and 6 school. It was decided that Reading students would have too many transitions to attend Woodstock Elementary School for 4th grade and then go to Prosper Valley for grades 5 and 6; therefore the Board voted to return 4th grade to RES.

The PreK - Grade 4 enrollment in October 2021 was 41; the K-4 enrollment was 32.
The PreK - Grade 4 enrollment in October 2022 was 33; the K-4 enrollment was 26.

Thanks to the Reading Historical Society and Stephen D’Agostino for most of this school information.

History of Reading Elementary School during the COVID pandemic from 2020 through 2022.

School year 2020-21 was known for the COVID-19 Pandemic rocking the entire world. Schools throughout the State of Vermont shut down in-person instruction on or about March 16, 2020, and students remained at home for the rest of the school year. Assignments were sent electronically to students and everyone learned how to participate in video conferencing with Google Meet and Zoom classrooms.

The 2020-21 school year opened while the pandemic was still active, causing the school district to offer a hybrid model of learning opportunities. Students in grades K-3 attended in-person four days a week from the beginning of the school year. Students in PreK attended only two days a week, either Monday-Thursday or Tuesday-Friday. Wednesday was a teacher work day for meetings and preparing online learning opportunities. A Virtual Learning School operated out of the RES library with three teachers who served any District student in grades K-6 who preferred to learn from home. When schools opened in September, all people in the building were required to wear masks. The school year was shortened from 175 to 170 school days due to Statewide confusion at the beginning of the school year around various COVID regulations and protocols.

Several tents were set up outside the school, where transmission of the virus was believed to be lessened with fresh air wafting through the tents. Teachers brought their classes outside as much as possible for the entire school year.

School year 2021-22 was our third school year impacted by the COVID pandemic. There was no longer a virtual option or a hybrid model, per State order. Schools returned to full 5 day a week schedules. Students and staff still wore masks indoors. Students between the ages of 5 and 11 began receiving vaccinations against COVID in November 2021. School nurses' offices were granted temporary laboratory status in order to process rapid COVID tests and to collect samples for the more reliable PCR style COVID testing. The "Delta" variant was about to be supplanted by the "Omicron" variant. Individual students and even whole classes were subject to quarantine for up to 14 days if "close contact" was made with a confirmed case of COVID. Eventually, quarantine times were dramatically reduced and even those exposed to a positive case were permitted to attend school if symptom free. Reading's attendance rate for the first three months of school was only 75%, compared to a more normal 97%. We were finally allowed to go mask-free a week before spring vacation in April 2022. There were no indoor school events all year, but there were a few outdoor gatherings of the community. Burlington Taiko did an artist residency in the spring and a final student performance was given outdoors for all who wanted to attend. A transition day for 4th graders to visit The Prosper Valley School was suddenly cancelled  in June due to an outbreak of COVID at TPVS in both staff and students. There was a collective sigh of relief when the school year ended.

School year 2022-23 marked the slow return to normalcy following the pandemic. Schools were mask optional, but at times when going on field trips we encountered locations where masks were still required. Rapid COVID testing kits were still available at schools, but with widespread vaccination in Vermont (the highest rate in the United States!), transmission of COVID was no longer the greatest concern.  By Spring 2023, COVID was in the rear view mirror and barely thought about. At the conclusion of the school year, Principal John Hansen retired, and was replaced by Brandon Hill for the 23-24 school year.