ESSEX JUNCTION – After years of lower attendance caused by school schedules that have crept further and further back into August, the Champlain Valley Fair has decided to apply for certification as a magnet school for high school students in Chittenden County. If the bid is successful, families will be able to choose the fair as the high school for their children and students will attend classes at the Champlain Valley Exposition in Essex Junction starting as early as August 2019.
“We firmly believe that the best place for kids is at the fair,” said fair administrator Candy Pomme. “For decades families were able to spend their last week of summer together at the Champlain Valley Fair, and school would start after Labor Day. But now children are being denied their most basic rights to a decent education in the area of what is good and best in life, and we simply need to take a stand and say that, while STEM classes are important, they are not more important than learning how much grease you can ingest before the Ring of Death makes you puke. People need to know this!”
A full curriculum is still being developed, but Pomme says that they already have enough materials for up to ten days of classes. Vermont law demands a minimum of 175 days of classes per year, which leaves the fair with 94% of their school year unplanned, but Pomme isn’t worried about that.
“There’s so much to learn here, even after the fair is gone. In September there will be an interactive living history program, and in October the Shriners could teach them how to play Bingo. Honestly, the possibilities are endless.”
Tuition to the proposed magnet school will be set at $75 a day or, for a one-time fee of $10,000, students can purchase a bracelet that will get them into the school for the whole year, and will include a free beverage of their choice (non-alcoholic).
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