Lake Country School, Hartland WI

Original Research by School Decision on Lake Country School

Lake Country School is a pre-kindergarten through eighth grade regular public school in Hartland, Wisconsin, serving students in the Lake Country School District. Because it serves only through eighth grade, there is no high school graduation rate to report, and the school sits outside that particular measure. For the grades it does serve, the school’s performance on Wisconsin’s Forward assessments is a clear strength. Across tested subjects and grade levels, proficiency is well above what is common in its county, landing in the top quartile of districts in Waukesha County. In math, the school posts strong results in every tested grade, with all students meeting the proficiency benchmark in fourth grade and the vast majority doing so in the other grades. English language arts results are similarly high, though they run a bit behind math; sixth grade shows a particularly strong ELA performance, while third, fifth, and seventh grades are a step lower but still solid. In science, fourth graders test at a high level, while eighth graders’ science proficiency is lower, a soft spot a parent may want to ask the school about. Social studies results, for the two grades where that subject is tested, are strong across the board. The school’s participation rate was complete in all reported assessments, so the results reflect nearly the full student body in each grade.

The student population is predominantly White, with modest shares of Hispanic, Asian, and multiracial students and a very small Black student population. About one in twelve students qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, a share that is low relative to state averages. The school does not report data on students with disabilities or English learners, so those dimensions of student support are not visible in the available record. Enrollment by grade runs roughly evenly from kindergarten through eighth grade, with a pre-kindergarten program serving a smaller cohort, giving the school a steady, predictable size for a PK-8 building.

Hartland is a village in Waukesha County’s Lake Country region, about twenty miles west of Milwaukee. It is a growing community, a mix of residential neighborhoods, a traditional downtown along Capitol Drive and Cottonwood Avenue, and a developing industrial base. The village civic core includes Village Hall, the police department, the public library, and Nixon Park, all set near the downtown intersection. The housing market reflects the area’s desirability: home values are high, rents are elevated, and the county’s median listing price is well above the national benchmark, consistent with a community where housing is a meaningful part of a family’s budget.

Lake Country School sits on its own campus away from downtown, as do the other K-8 schools that serve different portions of Hartland. The district itself recently announced a plan to ask voters for a temporary four-year operational referendum to sustain district operations. A parent considering this school will want to follow the outcome of that referendum, as it will speak directly to the district’s near-term financial footing. The school’s academic profile, combined with the community context, suggests a school that is delivering consistently high results for a student body that is economically and racially homogeneous. The dip in eighth-grade science is the one result that departs from the otherwise strong pattern, and it may warrant a conversation with school staff.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 380%

School 80% · District 80%

▲ 24 pts above state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

Grade 4100%

School 100% · District 100%

▲ 46 pts above state median · ▲ 25 pts above county median

Grade 584%

School 84% · District 84%

▲ 33 pts above state median · ▲ 12 pts above county median

Grade 694%

School 94% · District 94%

▲ 40 pts above state median · ▲ 16 pts above county median

Grade 786%

School 86% · District 86%

▲ 32 pts above state median · ▲ 6 pts above county median

Grade 883%

School 83% · District 83%

▲ 32 pts above state median · ▲ 7 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 375%

School 75% · District 75%

▲ 22 pts above state median · ▲ 2 pts above county median

Grade 486%

School 86% · District 86%

▲ 34 pts above state median · ▲ 14 pts above county median

Grade 576%

School 76% · District 76%

▲ 25 pts above state median · ▲ 4 pts above county median

Grade 689%

School 89% · District 89%

▲ 36 pts above state median · ▲ 14 pts above county median

Grade 776%

School 76% · District 76%

▲ 24 pts above state median · ▼ 2 pts below county median

Grade 877%

School 77% · District 77%

▲ 25 pts above state median · ▲ 2 pts above county median

Science

Grade 488%

School 88% · District 88%

▲ 36 pts above state median · ▲ 20 pts above county median

Grade 870%

School 70% · District 70%

▲ 19 pts above state median · ▲ 2 pts above county median

Social studies

Grade 494%

School 94% · District 94%

▲ 29 pts above state median · ▲ 12 pts above county median

Grade 883%

School 83% · District 83%

▲ 19 pts above state median · ▲ 2 pts above county median

This schoolLake Country School District, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 4Lower-income67%Higher-income88%22 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income33%Higher-income82%49 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 4Lower-income100%Higher-income100%0 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income67%Higher-income86%20 pp gap