Algoma Elementary, Algoma WI - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Algoma Elementary

Algoma Elementary serves students from prekindergarten through sixth grade in the small Lake Michigan city of Algoma, part of the Algoma School District. The school sits within a compact downtown where the district’s elementary and high school buildings are in close proximity to civic gathering spaces, the lakefront boardwalk, and Heritage Park. Algoma itself is a lakefront community with a fishing heritage that has shifted toward tourism and small businesses; the closure of the city’s lone major manufacturer left tourism, local government, and the school district as primary economic anchors. The city won the All-America City Award in 2020 for a plan aimed at countering brain drain through student mentoring and vocational opportunities.

State testing data for the 2024-25 school year shows a pattern that parents will want to examine closely. In mathematics, the share of students scoring proficient or above varied by grade, with third grade showing a higher rate and fourth, fifth, and sixth grades each somewhat lower. In English language arts, third graders posted a strong rate, but the share declined in each subsequent grade, with sixth grade falling to the lowest among tested grades. Science and social studies are tested only in fourth grade; about half of fourth graders reached proficiency in science, and roughly the same proportion did so in social studies. When compared to other school districts in Kewaunee County, Algoma Elementary’s overall proficiency index sits below the midpoint among the three districts. The school’s own grade-level results show a clear drop in reading as students advance, a pattern that families may wish to discuss with school staff.

Enrollment is just over three hundred students, with relatively balanced class sizes across kindergarten through sixth grade. Just over half of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a marker of the community’s economic context. The student body is predominantly white, with a modest share of Hispanic students and small numbers of students identifying with other racial and ethnic groups. Data on special education identification and English learner status were not reported, so a parent with a child in those categories would need to ask the school directly for that information.

Housing in Algoma is more affordable than the statewide typical home value, with values having risen at a faster pace in the past year. A family moving to Algoma will find a walkable downtown and seasonal street life, with festivals and a concert series in the summer. The Ahnapee State Trail runs through town and is being integrated into the Ice Age Trail, providing outdoor recreation access.

The Algoma School District also operates Algoma Venture Academy, a project-based learning charter school for grades seven through twelve that enrolled a small number of students by the 2023-24 school year. That choice is available to elementary families looking ahead to middle and high school, but it does not directly affect the elementary program itself.

Algoma Elementary is a small, community-rooted school in a city that has invested in its own revitalization. The academic picture is mixed: early literacy in third grade meets a solid benchmark, but later-grade reading results are weaker, and math proficiency shows a similar downward trend. Families who value a close-knit school in a walkable lakefront town with an active civic life will find Algoma Elementary a natural fit, but those focused on academic attainment through the upper elementary years may want to learn more about the school’s instructional approach and supports for older students.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 353%

School 53% · District 53%

▼ 3 pts below state median

Grade 447%

School 47% · District 47%

▼ 7 pts below state median

Grade 545%

School 45% · District 45%

▼ 6 pts below state median

Grade 649%

School 49% · District 49%

▼ 5 pts below state median

English language arts

Grade 367%

School 67% · District 67%

▲ 14 pts above state median

Grade 450%

School 50% · District 50%

▼ 2 pts below state median

Grade 537%

School 37% · District 37%

▼ 14 pts below state median

Grade 631%

School 31% · District 31%

▼ 22 pts below state median

Science

Grade 450%

School 50% · District 50%

▼ 1 pts below state median

Social studies

Grade 453%

School 53% · District 53%

▼ 12 pts below state median

This schoolAlgoma 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 3Lower-income74%Higher-income59%15 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income41%Higher-income64%23 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income12%Higher-income57%45 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income29%Higher-income33%5 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income48%Higher-income59%11 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income36%Higher-income64%28 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income35%Higher-income52%17 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income43%Higher-income54%11 pp gap