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Welcome to Vermont Adult Learning!

Vermont Adult Learning helps adult learners, ages 16 and older, acquire reading, writing, math, and computer skills to earn high school diplomas/GEDs. We teach English Language Learners skills to advance educationally and at work. We engage in workforce development. Our services are offered at no cost and are available in person and online. Text VAL to 833-900-0907 or contact a Learning Center nearest to you to learn more!

Note for in-person learning: We no longer require masks in our learning centers. Anyone at high risk or wishing to continue wearing a mask for other reasons is welcome to do so. We will continue to have masks available in our centers for those who need them.

Those who choose to wear a mask do so because it is a decision they have made for their health and safety. Vermont Adult Learning expects that decision to be respected. If you have concerns about your safety, please let us know so we can discuss options to address them.

Learning Matters Blog and VAL Updates

Ensuring that all are counted (4/23/2020) - VAL ELL Students Complete Census Ambassador Training and are Featured in World Education Webinar As Governor Scott’s stay-at-home order was announced in mid-March and Vermont Adult Learning centers around the state had to close their doors, Fiona Cook had been making plans to teach her higher-level ELL students in Brattleboro about the upcoming census. At around the same time, The Change Agent, a theme-based newspaper published twice yearly by the New England Literacy Resource Center, with articles written by student authors, had just released its latest issue--“Stand Up and Be Counted”--about the census. The Change Agent’s website also offered a…

English Language Classes in a Pandemic Era (4/15/2020) - Submitted by Leigh Smith, ESOL Teacher at VT Adult Learning's St. Albans Office Imagine coming to a country and culture where you didn’t know anyone and, suddenly, everyone you wanted to speak with disappeared inside. Suddenly, you’re responsible for overseeing your kids’ online schoolwork during a global pandemic. You also had to learn the local protocol for physical distancing and whether to wear a mask or not. Imagine what that would be like if you did not know the language to navigate these skills. Imagine what fear or pain is like, with no language facility to express your feelings during…

An Unusual Spring (4/7/2020) - Lijun Huang, a student of Joy Gaine at VAL’s White River Junction Learning Center, is from Xiamen, a port city on China’s southeast coast. This year's winter, there is no legendary cold, after mid-February, the temperature gradually warmed up, until late March, there was finally a slightly bigger snow.The snow began to fall in the afternoon, it grew bigger and bigger, and the snowflakes covered the whole lawn, wrapped around the whole house, and the sidewalks and driveways were out of sight. After supper, my family took the sled to the next yard, where there was a steep slope where…

Virtual Learning Raises Equity Issues (4/3/2020) - From where I sit in my home office in Burlington, my internet access is fine. I work upstairs in my adult daughter's bedroom writing grants and appeals and attending Google Hangout meetings with colleagues from across Vermont. My husband, an engineer, is sequestered downstairs in our home office, in video calls with folks as far away as Singapore. Our signal remains strong and consistent, spared frozen screens and scratchy audio. One of the enchanting aspects of living in Vermont is that, if you choose, you can live off of a dirt road, off of a dirt road and cultivate your…

“I have my dream job.” (3/30/2020) - Hannah is a proud mother of two young children. She works full-time at the day care that her children attend. She is fiercely independent; life required this of Hannah. She grew up in a home without a lot of parental support. She requested and became an Emancipated Minor at age 16. The judge granted her petition with the requirement that she earn her high school diploma. Hannah began working with Amy Cowan, High School Completion Plan Manager at Vermont Adult Learning’s Franklin-Grand Isle Learning Center. Hannah was expecting her first child while working three part-time jobs at a campground, convenience…