Deerfield Elementary, Deerfield WI

Original Research by School Decision on Deerfield Elementary

Deerfield Elementary serves early learners from preschool through sixth grade in the village of Deerfield, a small Dane County community roughly a fifteen-minute drive east of Madison. The school is the only elementary in the Deerfield Community School District and feeds into a combined middle and high school campus. A notable structural change is coming: the district is reconfiguring its middle school from a grades 7-8 model to grades 6-8 starting in 2026, which means sixth graders will shift from Deerfield Elementary to the middle school building. Parents with children currently in the upper elementary grades should be aware that their student will experience that transition sooner than past cohorts did.

The school serves roughly 430 students across grades PK through 6. The student body is predominantly white, with a smaller Hispanic population and even smaller shares of Asian, Black, and multiracial students. About a fifth of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. That share is moderate and suggests a generally middle-income community, though the school does have some socioeconomic diversity. Data on the percentage of students with disabilities and English learners was not available, which a parent may want to follow up on directly with the school.

On state assessments, results vary by grade and subject. In math, third grade proficiency was quite strong, sixth grade was also strong, while fourth and fifth grades came in more modestly. In English language arts, the picture was similar: third grade was in the middle range, fourth grade was in a similar spot, fifth grade was solid, and sixth grade was moderate. Science proficiency, tested in fourth grade only, was lower than the other subjects. Social studies in fourth grade was a relative bright spot, with proficiency notably higher than science or math at that same grade level. Overall, Deerfield Elementary's composite proficiency index across tested subjects and grades placed it below the midpoint compared with other districts in Dane County. That county-wide context matters because Dane County includes several high-performing suburban districts near Madison, so a below-midpoint position does not necessarily indicate a struggling school, but it is worth noting against the backdrop of a competitive regional landscape.

The community itself has grown substantially in recent years, with population and median household income both rising. The village is classified as partly rural and has a low-density feel; most residents drive alone to work, and commute times are moderate. The largest local employment sectors are manufacturing, construction, and retail trade, with utilities and finance paying the highest wages. No specific major employer names surfaced from public records, but the proximity to Madison likely means many residents work in the capital region. Housing values in Deerfield's ZIP code are above the state median, and the homeownership rate is high. The village has a small downtown, a biking trail, and basic municipal services, though residents likely travel to Madison for a fuller range of shopping, dining, and civic amenities.

The district's brief offered little beyond the pending grade reconfiguration. We looked for strategic priorities, program highlights, or recent facility investments and found no publicly reported detail, so this account does not fill that gap with guesswork. What is clear is that Deerfield Elementary is a small-town school serving a growing community, with academic results that sit in a middling position relative to Dane County's wider field. The pending shift of sixth grade to the middle school will be a practical change in the near future, so any family choosing this school should factor that into their timeline.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 373%

School 73% · District 73%

▲ 17 pts above state median · ▲ 14 pts above county median

Grade 457%

School 57% · District 57%

▲ 3 pts above state median · even with county median

Grade 555%

School 55% · District 55%

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

Grade 676%

School 76% · District 76%

▲ 22 pts above state median · ▲ 17 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 357%

School 57% · District 57%

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

Grade 457%

School 57% · District 57%

▲ 5 pts above state median · even with county median

Grade 564%

School 64% · District 64%

▲ 13 pts above state median · ▲ 10 pts above county median

Grade 660%

School 60% · District 60%

▲ 7 pts above state median · ▲ 2 pts above county median

Science

Grade 448%

School 48% · District 48%

▼ 3 pts below state median · ▼ 9 pts below county median

Social studies

Grade 465%

School 65% · District 65%

even with state median · ▼ 5 pts below county median

This schoolDeerfield Community 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-income50%Higher-income60%10 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income43%Higher-income61%18 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income67%Higher-income63%4 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income36%Higher-income67%30 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income58%Higher-income80%22 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income21%Higher-income67%46 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income33%Higher-income59%26 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income55%Higher-income81%26 pp gap