The top reported proficiency rate is 55% in Social studies. The lowest is 30% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Ridgeland-dallas Elementary
Ridgeland-Dallas Elementary is a small public school in the village of Ridgeland, serving students from pre-kindergarten through fourth grade as part of the Barron Area School District. The school sits at the heart of a very small agricultural village in northern Dunn County, a place where the weekly farmers market at the park is a community anchor and most residents commute to nearby towns for work. For a family considering this school, the setting and scale are the first things to understand: this is a rural elementary school with a modest enrollment, where the graduating fourth-grade class will move on to a larger school building in the district for fifth grade.
State assessment results are available for the grades that are tested. In third-grade math and English language arts, and in fourth-grade math, English language arts, science, and social studies, the share of students scoring proficient or above fell below the midpoint of what is typical across the county’s public schools. The school’s overall proficiency rate across all tested subjects and grades placed it in the bottom quarter when compared with other districts in Dunn County. At the same time, the small number of students tested in each grade means a single student’s performance has an outsized effect on the rate. A parent may want to talk with the school directly about how it identifies students who need support and how it tracks progress from year to year, especially given the small cohorts. Fourth-graders performed strongest in social studies, where roughly half reached proficiency, and showed their lowest results in fourth-grade English language arts.
The school’s enrollment is almost entirely white, with a small number of students identifying as two or more races, Hispanic, American Indian or Alaska Native, and Black. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the area’s modest household incomes. Data on the share of students with an individualized education plan or those learning English as a new language was not available. Because the school serves only early elementary grades, there is no graduation rate, no college-readiness metrics, and no data on chronic absenteeism or discipline to review; those measures apply to older grade levels.
The village of Ridgeland itself is tiny, covering about a square mile, and is entirely car-dependent. No public transit serves the area, and daily life centers on the village hall, the community center, the park, and the farmers market. Housing values in the surrounding area are well below state and national medians, a pattern consistent with the rural, agricultural character of the region. The search for recent district-level changes that would matter to parents, such as a referendum, boundary change, or program overhaul, did not yield results, so none are included here.
For a family, the key question is whether the small scale and rural setting fit your expectations. Ridgeland-Dallas offers a contained early elementary experience in a close-knit community. The proficiency numbers are below the county median, but the student group is small, and the school’s approach to reading and math instruction in those early grades would be important to explore directly with the principal or classroom teachers. The school does not offer the course breadth or extracurricular programs of a larger elementary building, which is typical for a school of this size. Children who start here will transition to a different district school for fifth grade, so the full academic pathway runs through the Barron Area School District’s upper elementary and secondary buildings. If a small, rural, community-grounded start appeals to you, Ridgeland-Dallas is worth a visit to see how those early-grade classrooms feel and to ask about the transition plan to the next school.
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