Fall Creek Elementary, Fall Creek WI

Original Research by School Decision on Fall Creek Elementary

Fall Creek Elementary serves students from prekindergarten through fifth grade in the Fall Creek School District, a regular public school that sits at the center of a small, quiet village in western Wisconsin. Fall Creek itself is a residential and agricultural community of modest size, where most residents commute by car to Eau Claire roughly ten miles west for work, shopping, and services. The village has seen a slow population decline in recent years, and its housing stock is typical of the region—values land near the national average and above the Wisconsin benchmark, making the area affordable relative to many parts of the state but not exceptionally inexpensive. A short downtown strip along Lincoln Avenue holds the village hall, library, and a handful of local businesses, but the overall texture is that of a rural bedroom community with limited walkability and no public transit.

Academically, the school’s state test results present a mixed picture. In third grade, math proficiency reached a level that is solidly above half of students, while fourth-grade math came in markedly lower, with roughly a third of students meeting the bar. English language arts followed a similar grade-level gap: third graders scored above half proficient, fourth graders slightly below half. Science, tested only in fourth grade, showed just under half of students proficient, while social studies in that same grade reached a level approaching three-fifths. Comparing across all tested subjects and grade levels, Fall Creek Elementary’s overall proficiency sits in the bottom quarter among the five school districts in Eau Claire County. That relative position is a soft spot a parent may want to explore further—whether the drop between third and fourth grade reflects a cohort effect, curriculum transition, or something else the school can address.

The student body is heavily homogeneous. Enrollment numbers just under five hundred children, with a large majority identifying as white. Small shares of students are of two or more races, Hispanic, Black, Asian, or American Indian. About a third of students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, a share that points to a moderate level of economic diversity within a predominantly middle-income community. No data were available on the proportion of students with individualized education programs or English learners, so a family with a child receiving special education services or language support would want to ask the school directly about those resources.

No program offerings—such as art, music, gifted services, or before- and after-care—were reported in the data, and the school’s grade band means there is no graduation rate to consider. The district brief turned up no major recent changes like a referendum or curriculum overhaul, suggesting a period of relative stability. For a family looking at Fall Creek Elementary, the appeal is likely its small-town setting, manageable class sizes implied by the enrollment, and a community where the school sits at the center of village life. The trade-off is a classroom academic profile that, while not uniformly low, trails most of its county peers in composite performance. A parent weighing options would want to visit, ask about the fourth-grade math trend, and get a feel for the school’s approach to supporting students who are not yet proficient.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 366%

School 66% · District 66%

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

Grade 434%

School 34% · District 34%

▼ 20 pts below state median · ▼ 23 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 351%

School 51% · District 51%

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

Grade 445%

School 45% · District 45%

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

Science

Grade 447%

School 47% · District 47%

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

Social studies

Grade 459%

School 59% · District 59%

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

This schoolFall Creek 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-income53%Higher-income50%3 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income25%Higher-income51%26 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income65%Higher-income61%4 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income42%Higher-income75%33 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income13%Higher-income40%28 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income29%Higher-income56%27 pp gap