Cumberland Elementary, Cumberland WI

Original Research by School Decision on Cumberland Elementary

Cumberland Elementary serves children from pre-kindergarten through fourth grade in the small, lakeside city of Cumberland, known as the Island City because its downtown sits on land nearly surrounded by Beaver Dam Lake. The school is a regular public elementary school within the Cumberland School District, which also includes a middle school, a high school, and Island City Academy. The elementary building itself has long history on the island, with a large school constructed on that site in an earlier era.

The student body is predominantly white, with a meaningful share of Hispanic students and a smaller number of American Indian or Alaska Native students. About half of the students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a share that places the school in a mixed-income context. The school is relatively small for its four-grade span, creating an intimate peer environment where children cycle through the same building for several years.

On state assessments, Cumberland Elementary's students produce a mixed set of results. In third-grade English language arts, just over half of students scored proficient, a figure that held steady in fourth grade at half. In math, third graders scored at about the same level, and fourth graders landed slightly higher. Science results for fourth grade showed less than half proficient, while social studies was the strongest subject for fourth graders, with more than half meeting the bar. Taken together, the school's overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades places it below the midpoint when compared with other districts in Barron County. Participation on every test was full, so the results reflect nearly every enrolled student in those grades.

This is not a school that offers high school outcomes like a graduation rate or advanced placement courses, because the grade band ends at fourth. Parents looking ahead to secondary options will need to track those metrics at the district's middle and high schools.

Cumberland itself is a compact city with a modest population that grew slowly over the last decade. The community has an older demographic profile, with about a quarter of residents aged 65 or older. The downtown is small and traditional, centered on Beaver Dam Lake, and street life is characteristic of a small Wisconsin town. The Rutabaga Festival serves as a major annual gathering. Housing values in the area are roughly in line with state benchmarks, and the cost of owning a home is less than renting when measured against median income, a pattern that may favor families looking to buy.

The district brief showed no recent parent-relevant changes of lasting impact, suggesting a period of operational stability. Parents exploring this school for their child will find a modest-size elementary that serves a mixed-income community, with academic proficiency that is generally in the range of half of students meeting the standard, and social studies as a relative bright spot. Families who value a small-town setting with lake access and a stable district will find a straightforward fit, while those concerned about early literacy and math proficiency may want to discuss support services with the school directly.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 351%

School 51% · District 49% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▼ 5 pts below state median · ▲ 2 pts above county median

Grade 452%

School 52% · District 49% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▼ 3 pts below state median · ▲ 2 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 353%

School 53% · District 51% · ▲ 2 pts above district

even with state median · even with county median

Grade 450%

School 50% · District 51% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▼ 2 pts below state median · ▼ 4 pts below county median

Science

Grade 445%

School 45% · District 48% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▼ 6 pts below state median · ▼ 14 pts below county median

Social studies

Grade 460%

School 60% · District 60%

▼ 5 pts below state median · ▼ 11 pts below county median

This schoolCumberland School District, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 3Lower-income39%Higher-income68%29 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income35%Higher-income77%42 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income39%Higher-income64%25 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income38%Higher-income77%40 pp gap