Alma Elementary, Alma WI - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Alma Elementary

Alma Elementary is a regular public school in the small Mississippi River town of Alma, the county seat of Buffalo County. It serves children from prekindergarten through eighth grade, which means students move on to another school for high school. The school’s enrollment is small, and the student body is overwhelmingly white, with a modest share identifying as Hispanic or of two or more races. About two out of every five students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a measure that gives a sense of the economic diversity present.

State testing results are available for every tested grade, and participation was complete across all subjects. The school’s overall proficiency, averaged across all tested grades and subjects, places it in the top quartile among the four districts in Buffalo County. That is a strong relative position, though the absolute picture varies by grade and subject. In math, fourth graders posted a high proficiency rate, while third, sixth, seventh, and eighth graders landed in a more moderate range. Fifth graders were somewhere in between. In English language arts, again fourth graders stood out with a high rate, and sixth and eighth graders also reached above the midpoint of the range; third, fifth, and seventh graders were softer. Science results for fourth graders were solid, and eighth graders somewhat lower. Social studies was a clear strength: both fourth and eighth graders showed rates that were very high.

Because the school stops at eighth grade, there is no graduation rate to report. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available in the profile, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about those programs and how they serve students who need additional support. Information on discipline, staffing, and chronic absenteeism was also absent, leaving gaps that a family interested in school climate would need to fill through a visit or conversation with staff.

The town of Alma itself shapes the school’s context. It is a compact river community with a historic district, a public library, and tourism tied to the Mississippi River—fishing, eagle watching, and a small museum. Two power generating stations are notable local employers, along with county government offices. The population has been declining, a trend common in many rural areas, and the median age is high. Housing values have risen modestly even as the population has shrunk; the typical home is priced well below the state average but close to the national median, making the area relatively affordable compared to larger Wisconsin towns. The school district itself did not show any major recent changes in publicly available sources, so the educational landscape appears stable.

For a family, Alma Elementary offers a small-scale setting where a child will likely be known by name. The academic picture is mixed but with clear bright spots, especially in social studies and in the fourth-grade cohort across subjects, and the school’s overall standing is solid within its county. The community is quiet, rural, and aging, with limited commercial bustle but outdoor amenities nearby. A parent moving here should expect a tightly knit school experience and a town where the pace is slow and the scenery is the main draw. The gaps in available data mean some questions will need to be asked directly, but the test results give a generally positive foundation.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 350%

School 50% · District 50%

▼ 6 pts below state median

Grade 480%

School 80% · District 80%

▲ 26 pts above state median

Grade 570%

School 70% · District 70%

▲ 18 pts above state median

Grade 657%

School 57% · District 57%

▲ 4 pts above state median

Grade 752%

School 52% · District 52%

▼ 2 pts below state median

Grade 853%

School 53% · District 53%

▲ 2 pts above state median

English language arts

Grade 357%

School 57% · District 57%

▲ 4 pts above state median

Grade 480%

School 80% · District 80%

▲ 28 pts above state median

Grade 552%

School 52% · District 52%

▲ 1 pts above state median

Grade 664%

School 64% · District 64%

▲ 11 pts above state median

Grade 757%

School 57% · District 57%

▲ 5 pts above state median

Grade 865%

School 65% · District 65%

▲ 13 pts above state median

Science

Grade 470%

School 70% · District 70%

▲ 19 pts above state median

Grade 859%

School 59% · District 59%

▲ 8 pts above state median

Social studies

Grade 485%

School 85% · District 85%

▲ 20 pts above state median

Grade 888%

School 88% · District 88%

▲ 24 pts above state median

This schoolAlma 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-income86%19 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income30%Higher-income69%39 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income46%Higher-income70%25 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 4Lower-income67%Higher-income86%19 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income50%Higher-income85%35 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income46%Higher-income60%15 pp gap