The top reported proficiency rate is 64% in Science. The lowest is 50% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Bonduel Elementary
Bonduel Elementary serves students from four-year-old kindergarten through fourth grade in the village of Bonduel, a small Shawano County community with a strong agricultural heritage and a quiet small-town character. The school is the sole elementary building within the Bonduel School District, which means most local children in these early grades attend here.
The student body is predominantly white, and a substantial share of families qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. Enrollment is spread across six grade levels including a sizable pre-kindergarten program, suggesting the school serves as an early childhood hub for the area. The school is a regular public school with no charter or magnet status, and it does not appear to receive Title I funding, though parents may want to ask the district directly about that designation.
State assessment results for the recent school year show a mixed picture. In mathematics, third graders reached proficiency at a rate that was above the midpoint of what is typical among Shawano County elementary schools; fourth graders were not far behind. English language arts results were lower, with just under half of third graders meeting the bar and just over half of fourth graders doing so. Parents should be aware that these early-grade reading results are soft, and they may wish to ask the school what supports are in place for students who are not yet reading at grade level by the end of primary school. Science and social studies, subjects tested only in fourth grade, showed a stronger performance, with more than three in five students reaching proficiency. Test participation was complete, which makes the results representative of the enrolled students.
No graduation rate is reported here because the school does not serve high school grades, and no data on chronic absenteeism or staff-to-student ratios was available in the materials reviewed. Information on special education identification and English learner status was also absent; a parent wanting those figures would need to ask the district office.
The school sits within a comparison framework that places it relative to other districts in Shawano County. On an overall proficiency index that combines all tested subjects and grades, Bonduel Elementary ranks in the top quartile among the six districts in the county. This is a meaningful signal that the school’s academic performance, considered as a whole, is at the stronger end of the local landscape.
On the housing front, home values in Bonduel’s ZIP code are below the statewide benchmark and have risen over the past year, though the pace of appreciation is not dramatically out of step with national trends. The village has seen relatively stable population numbers and no sign of rapid new development, so the housing market here is more about steady small-town conditions than growth pressure. The local unemployment rate at the national level sits near the long-term average, and the broader economic context does not suggest a community under acute stress.
The district itself recently recorded a large capital outlay for construction, publicly reported in its fiscal data. This likely reflects a major building project or bond-funded renovation that would have affected facilities at the elementary school or elsewhere in the district and may carry implications for local property taxes. A parent moving into the area may want to confirm with the district what that project was and whether additional levy measures are planned.
The village of Bonduel offers limited commercial density; civic life is centered on the village hall, police department, historical museum, and nearby parks. The school building is integrated into this small footprint, not separated on a remote campus. Street life is modest, and daily errands likely require a car. For a family seeking a rural, low-key community where the elementary school sits at the top of the county’s performance table on a combined measure, this school fits that profile. For a family prioritizing high early-literacy scores or broad program offerings, the soft spots in reading and the absence of data on enrichment or support resources are worth investigating directly with the school.
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