Woods Elementary, Lake Geneva WI

Original Research by School Decision on Woods Elementary

Lake Geneva is a resort city on Geneva Lake in Walworth County, a place shaped by tourism and the lakefront estates built by wealthy Chicago industrialists in the late 19th century. Its downtown has a walkable commercial core near the water, and the Geneva Lake Shore Path, a public walking trail that encircles the entire lake, is the city's defining outdoor amenity. Woods Elementary sits within this setting as a school in the Geneva J4 School District, serving students from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade on a single campus.

The student body is small. The school enrolls students across ten grade levels, from pre-K through eighth grade, with each grade averaging a modest group of children. The composition is predominantly white, with a Hispanic population making up the next largest share, and very small numbers of Black students and students of two or more races. About a third of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a measure that gives a sense of the economic range families bring. Data on the share of students with individualized education plans or English learner status was not available, which is a gap a parent may want to follow up on directly with the school.

On state assessments, Woods Elementary shows a pattern that is strong but uneven across grades and subjects. In mathematics, the school posts high proficiency rates in the earliest and latest grades tested, with third grade and eighth grade both reaching the top end of the scale, while fourth grade sits markedly lower. English language arts follows a similar shape: very high results in third grade and a perfect rate in eighth grade, with the middle grades at more moderate levels. Science and social studies are tested in fourth grade and again in eighth grade. Fourth-grade science results are notably lower than eighth-grade science, which shows very strong proficiency. Eighth-grade social studies results are uniformly strong. When the school's overall proficiency is compared across all tested subjects and grades against other schools in Walworth County, it lands in the top quarter of the comparison group, a position that reflects genuine strength at the upper elementary and middle school levels.

Because the school serves only through eighth grade, there is no four-year graduation rate to report. That is a straightforward function of the grade band, not a missing measure of performance. Similarly, the school has no data available on chronic absenteeism, so that metric is absent from the profile.

The school is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet. Its setting is a resort community that draws seasonal visitors, but the school itself serves local families year-round. The housing context in the area shows home values above the statewide benchmark, which reflects the desirability of lake-adjacent real estate. A parent moving into the area for the school should be aware that the cost of entry into the local housing market is higher than what Wisconsin as a whole commands.

For a family considering Woods Elementary, what stands out is a small school where older students perform at a high level academically, while the elementary grades show more variation. The school is the full K-8 experience for its students, meaning children stay in one building from pre-K through middle school, which can be a draw for families who want that continuity. The surrounding community of Lake Geneva offers a distinct resort-town lifestyle with a walkable downtown and outdoor recreation, but the housing market is premium-priced. A parent whose child is entering the upper grades may feel confident in the academic trajectory. A parent of a younger child may want to ask the school how it supports students in the grades where results dip, to get a fuller picture of instruction and intervention.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 392%

School 92% · District 92%

▲ 36 pts above state median · ▲ 33 pts above county median

Grade 453%

School 53% · District 53%

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

Grade 571%

School 71% · District 71%

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

Grade 677%

School 77% · District 77%

▲ 23 pts above state median · ▲ 27 pts above county median

Grade 775%

School 75% · District 75%

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

Grade 8100%

School 100% · District 100%

▲ 49 pts above state median · ▲ 50 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 392%

School 92% · District 92%

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

Grade 460%

School 60% · District 60%

▲ 8 pts above state median · ▲ 8 pts above county median

Grade 559%

School 59% · District 59%

▲ 8 pts above state median · even with county median

Grade 669%

School 69% · District 69%

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

Grade 781%

School 81% · District 81%

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

Grade 8100%

School 100% · District 100%

▲ 48 pts above state median · ▲ 38 pts above county median

Science

Grade 447%

School 47% · District 47%

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

Grade 886%

School 86% · District 86%

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

Social studies

Grade 460%

School 60% · District 60%

▼ 5 pts below state median · ▼ 10 pts below county median

Grade 8100%

School 100% · District 100%

▲ 36 pts above state median · ▲ 27 pts above county median

This schoolGeneva J4 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-income43%Higher-income75%32 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income57%Higher-income60%3 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income71%Higher-income67%5 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 4Lower-income14%Higher-income88%73 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income71%Higher-income70%1 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income71%Higher-income83%12 pp gap