One City Elementary School, Madison WI

Original Research by School Decision on One City Elementary School

One City Elementary School is a charter school in Madison, Wisconsin, serving preschool through fifth grade. It is part of the One City Schools Inc. charter network, which has been expanding in recent years to include a secondary school that now serves students through tenth grade, meaning families who start here can continue within the same system through middle school and into high school. The school is located on the west side of Madison, a mid-sized state capital and university city that sits on an isthmus between two lakes. Madison is the fastest-growing city in Wisconsin, driven by the education, healthcare, and technology sectors, and its downtown is a dense mix of government buildings, the University of Wisconsin campus, and a pedestrian mall of shops and restaurants.

The student body is moderate in size for an elementary school, with enrollment spanning pre-kindergarten through fifth grade. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, and the school’s racial and ethnic composition is heavily Black and Hispanic, with white students and students of two or more races making up much smaller shares. The school does not report counts of students with disabilities or English learners, so a parent would want to ask the school directly about the supports available for those groups.

On state assessments, proficiency rates varied by grade and subject, but across the board they fell well below the average for Dane County districts. In third grade English language arts, a modest share of students scored proficient, and the same was true for third grade math. Fourth grade results were lower in both subjects, and fifth grade math proficiency was especially low. Science and social studies are tested only in fourth grade, and performance there was also low. The school’s overall proficiency index—a composite of all tested subjects and grades—placed it in the bottom quarter of Dane County districts when compared with its peers. A parent considering this school may want to ask about the instructional approaches in place and how progress is tracked for students who are not yet meeting benchmarks. The school does not serve high school grades, so there is no graduation rate to report, and data on chronic absenteeism was not available in the provided material.

Housing in the Madison area is relatively expensive compared with national averages, with home values and rents running above both state and national benchmarks. The local economy is anchored by the university, state government, healthcare, and major private employers such as Epic Systems and American Family Insurance, so the job market is generally strong. The city is known for its bike-friendly streets, lakefront parks, and a lively farmers’ market on the Capitol Square.

The charter network that runs this school has grown noticeably. In 2023, One City Schools received approval to add a secondary school, which has since expanded its grade span through tenth grade. That means One City Elementary is now part of a PK–10 continuum, a change from a few years ago when the network stopped at elementary. For a family that values a continuous, mission-driven charter experience from preschool onward, that pathway now exists. The school itself is a regular public charter school, not a magnet, and no Title I status was reported.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 326%

School 26% · District 26%

▼ 30 pts below state median · ▼ 33 pts below county median

Grade 427%

School 27% · District 27%

▼ 27 pts below state median · ▼ 30 pts below county median

Grade 57%

School 7% · District 7%

▼ 44 pts below state median · ▼ 50 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 339%

School 39% · District 39%

▼ 14 pts below state median · ▼ 20 pts below county median

Grade 422%

School 22% · District 22%

▼ 30 pts below state median · ▼ 35 pts below county median

Grade 538%

School 38% · District 38%

▼ 13 pts below state median · ▼ 15 pts below county median

Science

Grade 415%

School 15% · District 15%

▼ 37 pts below state median · ▼ 42 pts below county median

Social studies

Grade 437%

School 37% · District 37%

▼ 28 pts below state median · ▼ 33 pts below county median

This schoolOne City Schools Inc, 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 3Lower-income25%Higher-income61%36 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income23%Higher-income20%3 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income24%Higher-income59%35 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income7%Higher-income56%49 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income23%Higher-income40%17 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income4%Higher-income13%9 pp gap