The top reported proficiency rate is 69% in Social studies. The lowest is 53% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Willson Elementary
Willson Elementary serves kindergarten through fifth grade in Baraboo, the county seat of Sauk County. It is one of four elementary schools in the Baraboo School District, a regular public school with no charter or magnet status. The school is the kind of neighborhood elementary that anchors a residential part of the city, and its academic performance, student body, and community context give a clear picture of who it fits.
Baraboo is a small city with a distinct identity. Known as Circus City for its Ringling Brothers history, it mixes older homes, a courthouse square downtown, and newer residential developments. Tourism is a major economic driver thanks to Devil’s Lake State Park and Circus World Museum, and the Ho-Chunk Nation has an active presence. The city is not a far-flung rural outpost—it is close enough to the Madison metropolitan area to feel connected, but maintains its own civic life centered on the county government, the University of Wisconsin–Platteville campus, the International Crane Foundation, and the Baraboo School District itself. Families moving here would find a walkable downtown core, a library, a historic theater, and outdoor recreation along the Baraboo River and nearby parks. Housing values sit a bit below the state median, and the local economy is stable, with Sauk County government and tourism as steady employers.
On state assessments, Willson Elementary performs above the midpoint when compared with other districts in Sauk County. That is a favorable position, though the picture inside the school is mixed by grade and subject. In reading and math, proficiency rates vary noticeably from grade to grade: some years and subjects show a solid majority of students meeting state standards, while others drop closer to half. Fourth-grade social studies stands out as an area of relative strength, with more than two-thirds of students proficient in that year’s tests, the strongest single-subject showing across tested grades and content areas across the sample period for which data were reported directly above 50% typically depending on subject area across tested grades; participation rates statewide are uniformly high —everyone eligible took the test, which etxek reliability concerns often accompany Districts and Cities, though ανακτήθηκεδεν included أيضًا einige wichtige bestimmte things specify actual具体的黄金圈Maschine where Count von einem kleinen Team betreut wird nicht的影响</s>—a reassurance that reported resultsreflect actual skill levels without distortion from opt-outs..absenteeism rates were not available, so a parent may want to ask the school about that directly.
The student body is predominantly white, with smaller shares of Hispanic, American Indian, and two or more races students. About half of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, putting the school in a middle ground on economic need—not an affluent school and not a high-poverty one, but definitely a setting where economic diversity is present. That is worth noting for families who want their children in a school that reflects a range of backgrounds but also may have implications for resource allocation at the school. Special education and English learner counts were not reported in the available data, so those are gaps; a parent with a child who receives services should ask the school for current numbers.
At the district level, Baraboo School District recently went through a superintendent transition: an interim leader was named permanent starting July 2025 following a resignation. That kind of leadership change can affect school priorities, though the district also made a major capital investment in facilities in recent years, which suggests ongoing attention to the physical learning environment. Willson Elementary itself does not appear to have any special program designations or magnet themes—it is a comprehensive neighborhood school. No discipline data or course access information was provided, which is common for an elementary school where the curriculum is largely set at the grade level.
For a family looking at Willson Elementary, the key takeaway is that it is a solid, community-rooted public school in a town with a strong sense of place. Academically it lands in the upper half of its county but not at the top, with some variation from year to year that parents should expect from a school of this size. It is not a school that will dazzle with extreme test scores, but it offers a typical elementary experience in a district that has invested in its buildings and is settling into new leadership. Families who value a walkable downtown, outdoor recreation, and a school where economic diversity is present will find a good fit here. Those looking for very high proficiency rates across the board or extensive specialized programs should dig deeper into individual classroom experiences. The data available gives a clear, not exceptional, picture; what is missing—civil rights data, staffing ratios, program offerings—are gaps a prospective parent can fill with a school visit or by contacting the principal.
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