Johnston Elementary, Appleton WI

Original Research by School Decision on Johnston Elementary

Johnston Elementary serves students from prekindergarten through sixth grade as a regular public school within the Appleton Area School District. Located on Forest Street on the east side of Appleton, the school draws its students from a residential neighborhood in a city that combines industrial history with a modern, diversified economy built around manufacturing, healthcare, financial services, and education. Appleton’s downtown, anchored by Lawrence University and venues such as the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center, offers a walkable cultural corridor, while the broader Fox Cities region supports a sizable metro population.

Enrollment at Johnston is in the middle range for an elementary school serving this grade band. The student body reflects substantial racial and ethnic diversity, with white students making up the largest single group, followed by Asian students and then Hispanic students, along with smaller shares of Black students, multiracial students, and American Indian students. A majority of students at the school qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating that a significant portion of families experience lower household income. The housing market in the area around the school sits at a level that, when measured against national benchmarks, is roughly in line with the statewide median, and rents are moderate relative to incomes, which may matter to families considering the neighborhood.

On state assessments administered through Wisconsin’s Forward exam, Johnston students participated at a very high rate across all tested subjects and grade levels, a sign of consistent schoolwide administration. Proficiency rates in both math and English language arts varied by grade, with some grades showing a higher share of students meeting state standards than others. Science and social studies results followed a similar pattern. When the school’s combined proficiency across all tested subjects and grades is compared to other districts in Outagamie County, Johnston’s overall performance places in the bottom quartile. That relative position is worth noting for any parent evaluating academic outcomes. Because the school serves only elementary grades, there is no graduation rate or chronic absenteeism data to consider, and no information on discipline or course access was available.

The Appleton Area School District, as of the most recent publicly reported information, does not appear to have undergone major referendums, boundary shifts, or curriculum overhauls of the kind that would directly affect a family’s daily experience at Johnston. For parents, that stability may be a neutral factor, though it is also worth noting that the district’s publicly communicated priorities were not detailed in available sources, so the specific direction of instructional focus or resource allocation is not clear from this data.

Johnston Elementary fits a family looking for a neighborhood school in a mid-sized city with a strong downtown and a robust local job market. The student population is economically diverse, and the school’s academic results are below the county median, which may prompt a parent to seek additional information about classroom supports and instructional strategies. The school’s consistent testing participation and the absence of any flagged administrative disruptions suggest a steady operational environment. For a family weighing options within Appleton, Johnston represents a standard elementary attendance zone school with the characteristics typical of a school serving a mixed-income, diverse community in a stable district.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 357%

School 57% · District 54% · ▲ 4 pts above district

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

Grade 440%

School 40% · District 53% · ▼ 13 pts below district

▼ 14 pts below state median · ▼ 21 pts below county median

Grade 552%

School 52% · District 54% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▲ 1 pts above state median · ▼ 5 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 351%

School 51% · District 50% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▼ 2 pts below state median · ▼ 3 pts below county median

Grade 444%

School 44% · District 50% · ▼ 5 pts below district

▼ 8 pts below state median · ▼ 11 pts below county median

Grade 550%

School 50% · District 53% · ▼ 3 pts below district

▼ 1 pts below state median · ▼ 11 pts below county median

Science

Grade 440%

School 40% · District 49% · ▼ 9 pts below district

▼ 11 pts below state median · ▼ 16 pts below county median

Social studies

Grade 453%

School 53% · District 60% · ▼ 7 pts below district

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

This schoolAppleton Area 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-income39%Higher-income72%34 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income38%Higher-income62%24 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income50%Higher-income50%0 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income52%Higher-income74%22 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income48%Higher-income72%24 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income34%Higher-income54%20 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income50%Higher-income55%5 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income31%Higher-income74%43 pp gap