The top reported proficiency rate is 63% in Math. The lowest is 47% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Janesville-waldorf-pemberton El.em.
Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton Elementary serves students from pre-kindergarten through sixth grade in the small, primarily residential city of Janesville, Minnesota. The school is a regular public elementary school, part of the Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton Public School District, and sits within a traditional small-town grid of single-family homes and a modest downtown core. The area has seen modest, slow population growth, and the local economy is anchored by manufacturing, health care, and retail trade. The school draws from the community and from the surrounding agricultural land, consistent with the town’s compact footprint.
The student body is predominantly white, with a small share of students who identify as Hispanic, Black, two or more races, or Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander. About a third of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a share that is substantial but not the highest in the district’s context. The school does not report data on students with individualized education plans or English learner status, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about how those populations are served and what supports are in place.
State testing results cover grades three through six, and they show a mixed picture. In math, proficiency rates vary by grade, with fourth grade performing notably higher than third and fifth grades. In English language arts, the pattern is similar: third grade shows a relatively lower proficiency rate, while fifth and sixth grades each clear a higher bar. Fifth-grade science proficiency sits in a middle range. Taken together, the school’s overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades places it in the top quartile among districts in Waseca County. That is a clear strength relative to its immediate neighbors, though it is worth noting that the county’s small number of districts makes any quartile comparison a broad characterization.
There is only a single year of state testing data available, so no trend can be established. A parent should not assume these results represent a stable pattern; they are a snapshot. The school does not serve high school grades, so there is no graduation rate to consider. Discipline data and chronic absenteeism data were not available in the provided information, so a parent may want to explore those topics directly with the school.
The district brief found little in the way of recent parent-relevant changes, such as boundary shifts, program additions, or facility projects. The available information suggests a stable setting without major upheaval, though the absence of reported changes does not confirm that none occurred.
The school’s location on a quiet street in a small town with a grid layout means most families likely drive their children to school or rely on a bus system. The downtown area is within a short distance, with civic anchors such as City Hall and the historic Janesville Free Public Library. There are no major new housing developments noted in available sources, and the housing market in the broader area is below the state median home value, though specific local figures are not repeated here. For a family looking at a small elementary school in a slow-growing, rural-adjacent community with academic results that outpace other Waseca County districts in the aggregate, this school fits that description. A family whose priority is a wide range of course offerings or a heavily diverse student body would likely need to look elsewhere.
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