Elkhorn Options Virtual School, Elkhorn WI

Original Research by School Decision on Elkhorn Options Virtual School

Elkhorn Options Virtual School is a public charter school serving students from pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade. It is part of the Elkhorn Area School District and offers a fully virtual learning environment for families in the Elkhorn area and likely beyond. This is not a brick-and-mortar school where students attend classes in a traditional building; instead, the curriculum is delivered online, and the school’s administrative office is located on Jackson Street in downtown Elkhorn.

Elkhorn itself is a small city that serves as the county seat of Walworth County. It operates as a hub for local government and community life, anchored by the Walworth County Government Center and its surrounding park. The city is known for its historic downtown and as the host of the Walworth County Fair, a major annual event. The local economy is driven by manufacturing, educational services, and retail, with a modest population that has seen a slight decline in recent years. The housing stock is predominantly owner-occupied, and the area maintains a stable, small-town character.

The student body at the virtual school is predominantly white, with a Hispanic population making up the next largest group, and small numbers of Black and multiracial students. A notable share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating a meaningful range of economic backgrounds. The school serves all grade levels, and enrollment is distributed across them, with a slight concentration in the upper elementary and high school grades.

State assessment data is available for grades three through eight in math, English language arts, science, and social studies. In math, proficiency rates vary grade by grade. Fourth graders showed a strong rate, while third, fifth, sixth, and seventh graders posted results that were mixed. The eighth-grade math rate was lower, a soft spot a parent may want to look into further with the school. In English language arts, the school performed across a range, with several grades posting solid rates, while others were more moderate. Science results were available for fourth and eighth grades; the fourth-grade science proficiency rate was very strong, and the eighth-grade cohort had a perfect proficiency rate, though it was a small group of students tested. Social studies results for fourth grade were also strong. Across all tested subjects and grades, the school’s overall proficiency index places it in the top quartile relative to other districts in Walworth County, a position that signals the school’s virtual model is producing academic outcomes that compare favorably to its county peers.

Because this is a virtual school, the experience of learning is entirely online. This means there are no traditional school buildings, no bus routes, and no on-site extracurriculars in the same sense as a conventional school. The model demands significant parent involvement, consistent internet access, and a high degree of student self-motivation. This fits families who are seeking flexibility, a non-traditional setting, or who have found that a conventional classroom does not work well for their child.

For high school students, the school can provide access to courses for credit, but the available data does not include a graduation rate, so it is not possible to assess how many students complete their degrees through this path. That is an important gap for any family considering the virtual high school option to explore directly with the school administration. The district recently approved a facility referendum for capital projects, but as a virtual school, those improvements are less directly relevant to the day-to-day experience of its students. The school’s charter status means it has some operational flexibility distinct from the district’s other schools.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 346%

School 46% · District 69% · ▼ 23 pts below district

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

Grade 486%

School 86% · District 73% · ▲ 12 pts above district

▲ 32 pts above state median · ▲ 23 pts above county median

Grade 565%

School 65% · District 72% · ▼ 7 pts below district

▲ 14 pts above state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

Grade 659%

School 59% · District 51% · ▲ 8 pts above district

▲ 5 pts above state median · ▲ 9 pts above county median

Grade 769%

School 69% · District 57% · ▲ 12 pts above district

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

Grade 833%

School 33% · District 50% · ▼ 17 pts below district

▼ 18 pts below state median · ▼ 17 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 364%

School 64% · District 70% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▲ 11 pts above state median · ▲ 6 pts above county median

Grade 479%

School 79% · District 72% · ▲ 7 pts above district

▲ 26 pts above state median · ▲ 26 pts above county median

Grade 571%

School 71% · District 72% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▲ 20 pts above state median · ▲ 12 pts above county median

Grade 677%

School 77% · District 53% · ▲ 23 pts above district

▲ 23 pts above state median · ▲ 24 pts above county median

Grade 769%

School 69% · District 61% · ▲ 8 pts above district

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

Grade 867%

School 67% · District 61% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▲ 15 pts above state median · ▲ 5 pts above county median

Science

Grade 486%

School 86% · District 69% · ▲ 17 pts above district

▲ 34 pts above state median · ▲ 35 pts above county median

Grade 8100%

School 100% · District 62% · ▲ 38 pts above district

▲ 49 pts above state median · ▲ 44 pts above county median

Social studies

Grade 4100%

School 100% · District 86% · ▲ 14 pts above district

▲ 35 pts above state median · ▲ 30 pts above county median

Grade 883%

School 83% · District 70% · ▲ 13 pts above district

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

This schoolElkhorn Area 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 4Lower-income83%Higher-income75%8 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income50%Higher-income75%25 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 4Lower-income83%Higher-income88%4 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income50%Higher-income75%25 pp gap