The top reported proficiency rate is 78% in Social studies. The lowest is 58% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Black Hawk Elementary
Black Hawk Elementary serves children from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade in the village of South Wayne, a small incorporated community in rural Lafayette County, Wisconsin. The school sits on Center Street, the village’s main civic corridor, in the same complex as the district’s middle and high schools, with the Village Hall just down the street. The village itself, originally a railroad stop from the eighteen-eighties, has a population that has declined modestly over the past several decades, and no major new housing or commercial development has been identified in available sources. The Cheese Country Trail, a multi-use recreational path on the former railroad bed, passes through town and draws visitors year-round.
The school is a regular public school serving roughly the size of student body typical for a small rural elementary. Just over half of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a marker that suggests a notable share of families in the surrounding community are managing on modest incomes. The student body is overwhelmingly white, with a small number of Hispanic students and an even smaller number of Black students; no other racial or ethnic groups appear in the enrollment data in any meaningful number. Data on students with individualized education programs and English learners was not reported, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about those supports.
State testing results from the most recent school year show a pattern that is strong in the middle elementary grades and softer at the edges. In both math and English language arts, fourth graders turned in solid results, with proficiency levels that are encouraging. Third-grade math results were also decent, while third-grade English results landed in a more middling range. Fifth grade was the weakest spot in both subjects, with proficiency rates falling well below the fourth-grade mark. In science and social studies, which are tested only in fourth grade, performance was consistent with the strong showing in the other fourth-grade subjects. Overall, when the school’s performance across tested subjects and grades is measured as a single composite, it places comfortably in the top quartile relative to other districts in Lafayette County. That comparison set is small, with seven districts, so the distance from the middle to the top is modest, but the position is a clear positive.
Because the school only serves through fifth grade, there is no graduation rate to report, and the absence is simply a function of the grade band. Similarly, information on chronic absenteeism was not available.
The district itself, Black Hawk School District, operates all three schools on the same Center Street campus. No recent district-level changes with a lasting impact on curriculum, property taxes, or programming were found in public records. The village’s housing market has seen values rise in recent years, consistent with broader trends, and homes in the area are priced below the state average. For a family considering this school, the picture is of a small, rural elementary where fourth graders are performing notably well across subjects, fifth grade is an area worth watching, and the community is stable but not growing. A parent looking into fifth grade specifically may want to ask the school how it supports students in that transition year before they move on to middle school.
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