The top reported proficiency rate is 77% in Social studies. The lowest is 56% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Winkler Elementary
Winkler Elementary serves students from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade and is one of four elementary schools in the Burlington Area School District. It sits inside the city of Burlington, a small Wisconsin community roughly midway between Milwaukee and Chicago. The school draws families who live in Burlington’s residential neighborhoods and outlying areas, and it feeds into Karcher Middle School and Burlington High School.
The student body is small. The enrollment leans heavily White in its racial composition, with a modest Hispanic share and very small numbers of students identifying as two or more races. About two out of every five students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a share that positions the school near the middle of the range for Racine County elementary schools. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available in the source information.
State test results in the 2024-25 school year cover only grades three and four. Fourth-grade students posted a solid performance in math, with most scoring proficient or above. Third-grade math proficiency came in noticeably lower, though still above half of test takers. In English language arts, fourth graders again showed a strong proficiency rate, while third graders were below half. Fourth graders also took assessments in science and social studies and scored well in both subjects. The overall proficiency index, which averages results across all tested subjects and grades, placed Winkler above the midpoint when compared with other districts across Racine County. Third-grade reading and math, where the school is weaker, give a fuller picture. A family may want to ask the school what supports are in place for those early-elementary students who arrive not yet at proficiency, and whether the higher fourth-grade scores reflect a trajectory of improvement or a difference in the cohort.
The building itself offers no unusual structural distinctions. It is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet. It does not appear to be a Title I school. The district brief available at the time of review showed no parent-relevant changes or strategic pivots, so this account cannot speak to what the district is prioritizing.
Burlington itself is a city that has invested in its downtown and in new infrastructure. A recently completed bypass has taken through-traffic away from the historic core, which the city has positioned as a walkable destination for residents and visitors. A riverwalk along the Fox River gives pedestrians and cyclists a recreation corridor. The city also hosts a campus of Gateway Technical College. Housing in Burlington is priced above the Wisconsin state median, reflecting a market that has tightened, and the typical home in the area has risen in value in the past year. That matters because Winkler draws its enrollment from a range of neighborhoods, and families moving into the district should understand that housing costs are not uniform across the city.
For a family considering Winkler, the picture is this. It is a small elementary school with a strong fourth-grade showing on state tests and a weaker third-grade performance in reading and math that parents should probe. It serves a largely homogenous student population. The town has seen development and downtown revival, and the school sits within a district that did not publicly signal major changes. A family looking for a school with a track record of solid fourth-grade results, in a growing city, will find this worth a closer look, especially if they can talk to the principal about how the school builds skills from kindergarten through the intermediate grades.
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