The top reported proficiency rate is 71% in Social studies. The lowest is 56% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Chetek-weyerhaeuser Roselawn Elementary
Chetek-Weyerhaeuser Roselawn Elementary is a regular public school serving prekindergarten through fifth grade in the Chetek-Weyerhaeuser Area School District. Located on a residential street in Chetek, a small lakeside city in Barron County, Wisconsin, the school sits within a community that blends year-round living with seasonal tourism drawn to a chain of six lakes. The district itself was formed through a consolidation of the former Chetek and Weyerhaeuser school districts, and Roselawn Elementary opened its doors after that merger.
State assessment results for the most recent testing year offer a clear, grade-level picture of academic performance. In English language arts, proficiency rates across third, fourth, and fifth grades cluster in a band that is near or above the midpoint of its grade-level peers statewide. Math results show a wider spread: third graders posted a rate that is solid, fourth graders a softer result, and fifth graders the strongest math outcome of any tested grade in the building. In fourth-grade science, proficiency sits at a level that is workmanlike but not exceptional. Fourth-grade social studies, by contrast, posted the highest single subject-grade result in the school, substantially above the other tested areas. Across all tested subjects and grades combined, the school’s overall proficiency index places it in the top quartile relative to other districts in Barron County, a meaningful strength for families comparing elementary options in the region.
The student body is primarily white, reflecting the demographic makeup of the surrounding area. Roughly half of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a key indicator of the economic circumstances many families are navigating. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available in the source material, which means those dimensions of student support cannot be assessed here; a parent with specific needs in those areas would want to ask the school directly about services and staffing.
Chetek itself is a small city with a compact downtown along the lakeshore. The economy leans heavily on tourism, with campgrounds, a golf course, snowmobile and ATV trails, and seasonal festivals such as Liberty Fest and Harvest Fest. Housing values in the surrounding area, measured across the local ZIP code, have risen moderately in the past year, and the general cost of housing sits somewhat below the Wisconsin state benchmark. The population of Chetek proper declined slightly between the 2010 and 2020 censuses, though the broader town area has grown, and recent estimates suggest the city’s population may be stabilizing. A significant EF3 tornado struck the community in 2018, causing damage and one fatality, which would have required considerable rebuilding.
The school itself is integrated into the small-town fabric rather than set apart on a remote campus. No recent district-level referendums, curriculum changes, or other parent-relevant shifts were found in publicly available sources, so the district’s direction appears to have been stable in the near term.
For a family considering this school, the academic picture is one of mixed but generally solid performance, with a notable strength in fifth-grade math and in fourth-grade social studies. The school’s top-quartile position in the county for overall proficiency is an encouraging signal. The economic context of the student body, with a substantial share of children coming from lower-income households, is a characteristic of the community that families may want to understand but is not a weakness of the school itself. The absence of information on special education and English learner services is a gap worth probing. The setting is low-density and car-dependent, but the school is within walking distance for some neighborhoods in this compact city. For a rural-lake community elementary school, this one delivers a reasonable academic baseline and a strong showing relative to its county peers.
See more original research from School Decision →