The top reported proficiency rate is 85% in Math. The lowest is 63% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Belleville Middle
Belleville Middle serves only seventh and eighth graders, a compact two-year span that sits between the district’s elementary school and high school. The school is a regular public school within the Belleville School District, located in the village of Belleville, a place that straddles Dane and Green Counties about a short drive south of Madison. The village has been growing quickly, drawing young families with more affordable new homes near the Madison job market, and the housing data reflects that: home values sit well above the national benchmark, and the cost of buying a home is steep relative to incomes nationwide. The school itself draws from this growing, primarily residential community.
Academically, Belleville Middle posts strong results on the Wisconsin Forward assessments. In math, the large majority of both seventh and eighth graders score at proficient or above. In science, a similar high share of eighth graders reach that level, and in social studies the figure is also high. English language arts is the relative soft spot: about three in five students in each grade are at the proficient or above mark. That is a meaningful gap from the math, science, and social studies performance. A parent may want to ask the school how it supports literacy and reading comprehension, especially for students who are not yet at the proficient level. On the whole, the school’s proficiency index places it in the top quartile among districts in Dane County, which is a broad and competitive comparison set that includes the Madison metro area and its suburbs.
The school is small, with an enrollment typical of a middle school that serves a modest village population. The student body is predominantly white, with a Hispanic or Latino share and a small share of students who identify as two or more races. About one in five students qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, a rate that suggests the school serves a community that is economically mixed but leans toward the higher-income side relative to the state. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available, so it is not possible to describe those populations from the source material.
Belleville itself is a village with a compact Main Street core, a new public library, and several parks and trails, including the Badger State Trail. The district has received recognition as a PLTW Distinguished District and an “Exceeds Expectations” rating from the state. The district also passed a recurring referendum in 2022 that added revenue to maintain class sizes, preserve programming across subjects, and support social-emotional services including counseling and mental health. That referendum was described as necessary to avoid staffing cuts, and the community voted to approve it. The district has also implemented a 1-to-1 technology initiative for students in grades 3 through 12. These pieces together suggest a district that is investing in its schools with community backing.
There is no graduation rate for Belleville Middle because it does not serve high school grades. Discipline data, attendance data, and course access information were not available, so a picture of school climate or the breadth of elective offerings cannot be drawn from the source material. The school’s strong math and science scores, its position in a growing village with active district investment, and its place in a top-quartile county comparison set are the clearest signals for a parent weighing this school. The gap in English language arts scores is the main open question.
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