The top reported proficiency rate is 78% in Social studies. The lowest is 57% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Green Lake Elementary
Green Lake Elementary serves students from prekindergarten through sixth grade as the sole elementary school within the Green Lake School District, a small, regular public school in the city of Green Lake, Wisconsin. The school sits in a village that functions as a resort community on the northeast shore of Wisconsin’s deepest natural inland lake, where tourism shapes the summer rhythm and year-round residents support a compact downtown with shops, restaurants, and cultural anchors like the Thrasher Opera House. The district itself carries a distinctive academic identity: it is the only 4K through twelfth grade International Baccalaureate school in Wisconsin, and one of a small number worldwide. That means the IB framework extends into the elementary years, influencing curriculum and instructional approach across all subjects, a feature that families weighing this school will want to understand as a foundational part of the experience.
State assessment results from the Forward exam, covering grades three through six, give a mixed but largely positive picture. In mathematics, proficiency rates are consistently high across all tested grades, with most students meeting or exceeding the state’s proficiency standard; this is a clear strength. English language arts shows more variation. Third and fifth graders perform at a solid level, while fourth grade dips noticeably and sixth grade falls well below the school’s own pattern, an area a parent may want to discuss with the school. Science and social studies are tested only in fourth grade. The science result sits near the midpoint of the tested cohort, while social studies performance is strong. When the school’s overall proficiency across all subjects and grades is compared with other districts in Green Lake County, it places in the top quartile, meaning it performs above most of its county peers. Because the school ends at grade six, there is no graduation rate to report.
The student body is small and predominantly white, with a modest share of students from other racial and ethnic backgrounds, including a small Hispanic population. The share of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch indicates that a segment of the student population comes from lower-income households. Data on students with disabilities and English learners were not available in the source materials, so a family with specific needs in those areas would want to check directly with the school.
Housing in the Green Lake area carries a premium compared with both the state and national medians, reflecting the lakefront location and the town’s desirability as a resort destination. The community is described as walkable, with a recently completed bike path connecting Green Lake to nearby Ripon and a longer trail looping the lake. Street life is most active in summer, with concerts, festivals, and water recreation; year-round programming comes from the Thrasher Opera House, the Chamber of Commerce, and local nonprofit organizations. The town’s economy leans heavily on tourism, with resorts, golf courses, marinas, and the Green Lake Conference Center as major anchors, though no explicit list of top employers was found in available sources.
For a family considering Green Lake Elementary, the school fits a particular profile. It offers a coherent IB pathway from early childhood through the primary grades within a small school environment. Mathematics performance is a reliable strength. The ELA variability across grades means families should be prepared to monitor literacy support, especially as children move into upper elementary. The community is small, seasonal, and recreation-oriented, with housing costs that reflect the lake setting. The lack of a middle or high school on this campus means students transition to the district’s secondary school at seventh grade, which also follows the IB model. Parents who value a global curriculum framework, a tight-knit rural resort town, and strong math instruction will find this school aligned with those priorities. Those looking for wide socioeconomic diversity or access to large-scale extracurricular offerings in the elementary years may find the school’s scale more limited.
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