Gilman Elementary, Gilman WI - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Gilman Elementary

Gilman Elementary is a small rural school serving children from prekindergarten through sixth grade in a compact village in southwestern Taylor County. The school sits within the Gilman School District, which also runs a separate KG-12 charter school, Esucceed, giving families an additional enrollment option within the district. The village of Gilman itself is quiet and modest, with the school district and Gilman Cheese as the two main employers. The population has seen a gradual long-term decline, and the housing market reflects the area’s rural character: home values are well below national and state medians, and the village shows no signs of new residential or commercial expansion.

The school’s student body is small and overwhelmingly white. About half of the students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a share that places the school above the typical poverty level for its grade band. The district has publicly reported implementing an intervention block during the school day, intended to let students complete homework and receive academic support without relying on after-school time. This structure may matter to families who juggle activities or want more flexibility in the evenings.

State assessment results for the most recent testing year show a mixed picture. In math, proficiency rates varied by grade: in one grade, just under half of students met the proficiency standard; in another, about a third did; in a third grade, a bit more than a third were proficient; and in the highest tested grade, half of students reached proficiency. In English language arts, the pattern was similar, with roughly a third to just over two-fifths of students scoring proficient across the four tested grades. Science results for the one grade tested showed about a third of students proficient. Social studies, tested in the same grade, had half of students reaching the benchmark. The school’s overall proficiency index, averaging all tested subjects and grades, places Gilman Elementary in the bottom quartile among the three school districts in Taylor County. A parent may want to ask the school how it targets the areas where proficiency is weakeraising reading and math foundations in the early grades, for example.

Because the school serves only through sixth grade, there is no graduation rate to report. State data on chronic absenteeism and special-education identification was not available for this school, so a parent who wants to understand attendance patterns or the availability of individualized supports should ask the school directly.

The setting is typical of small-town rural Wisconsin. The village has a Main Street with a few businesses, a village park along the Yellow River, and a historic swinging bridge. The school campus is within walking distance for many families, but daily life relies on driving, as there is no public transit. The broader area offers outdoor recreation: the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest, snowmobile trails, and the Ice Age Trail are nearby. The village is not growing, and housing is affordable relative to the rest of Wisconsin, which may appeal to families looking for a low-cost, stable community.

Gilman Elementary is a straightforward community school in a thin-market rural village. It offers a traditional elementary program with some in-school support built into the day. Academic performance is mixed, with room for improvement in reading and early math. Families who value a small, close-knit environment and are comfortable with the area’s limited economic dynamism will find a school that is central to the life of the town.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 344%

School 44% · District 44%

▼ 13 pts below state median

Grade 430%

School 30% · District 30%

▼ 24 pts below state median

Grade 538%

School 38% · District 35% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▼ 14 pts below state median

Grade 650%

School 50% · District 47% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▼ 4 pts below state median

English language arts

Grade 335%

School 35% · District 35%

▼ 18 pts below state median

Grade 430%

School 30% · District 30%

▼ 22 pts below state median

Grade 538%

School 38% · District 41% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▼ 13 pts below state median

Grade 644%

School 44% · District 37% · ▲ 7 pts above district

▼ 9 pts below state median

Science

Grade 430%

School 30% · District 30%

▼ 21 pts below state median

Social studies

Grade 450%

School 50% · District 50%

▼ 15 pts below state median

This schoolGilman 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-income36%Higher-income33%3 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income25%Higher-income50%25 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income40%Higher-income46%6 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income55%Higher-income33%21 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income25%Higher-income50%25 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income20%Higher-income64%44 pp gap