The top reported proficiency rate is 46% in Math. The lowest is 30% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Independence Elementary
Independence Elementary serves students from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade in the small, rural city of Independence, Wisconsin. The school is part of the Independence School District, which covers the community and its immediate surroundings. The town itself sits at the confluence of Elk Creek and the Trempealeau River, a place that grew up around a railroad depot and still sees freight trains pass through. It is a quiet, modestly sized place with a population that has grown slowly in recent years. The housing market in the area shows home values that are below the state benchmark, and the national economic context includes a 30-year fixed mortgage rate that has fluctuated in a narrow band, with a national unemployment rate that has held steady.
The school serves students from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade, and its enrollment is small. The student body is majority Hispanic or Latino, with a substantial share of White students and a small number of students who identify as two or more races. A very large share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which is a marker of the economic circumstances many families in the community face. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available in the source materials.
State testing results are available for the 2024-25 school year across grades three through five in math and English language arts, and for grade four in science and social studies. In math, the share of students scoring proficient or above varied by grade, with the highest rate in fifth grade and the lowest in fourth grade. In English language arts, the pattern was different: fourth graders had the highest rate, while fifth graders had the lowest. In science, the fourth-grade proficiency rate was below the midpoint of the range seen across the school's own grades. In social studies, the fourth-grade rate was higher than in science. Across all tested subjects and grades, the school's overall proficiency index places it in the bottom quartile relative to other districts in Trempealeau County. This is a soft spot in the school's academic picture, and a parent may want to look into this further with the school to understand the instructional context and any supports in place.
The school serves only elementary grades, so there is no graduation rate to report. Data on chronic absenteeism was also not available. The school is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet, and its Title I status was not reported in the source data.
The Independence School District, which operates this elementary school, did not have any parent-relevant changes publicly reported in the recent period that would meet a four-year lasting-impact bar. The district's website is available for families seeking current information.
For a family considering this school, the picture is one of a small, rural elementary school serving a community where many families face economic challenges. The student body is predominantly Hispanic or Latino, and the school's academic proficiency rates, as measured by state assessments, are below the midpoint when compared with other districts in Trempealeau County. The school has full participation in testing, which means the results reflect nearly all enrolled students in the tested grades. The school does not serve high school grades, so there is no graduation rate to consider. A parent may want to ask about the specific academic supports and interventions the school uses, particularly in English language arts, where the fifth-grade proficiency rate was the lowest among the tested grades. The community itself is a quiet, rural place with modest growth, a small downtown core, and limited commercial activity. Housing values in the area are below the state benchmark, and the national economic context shows a stable but elevated mortgage rate environment. For a family that values a small, rural elementary school with a close-knit feel and is comfortable engaging directly with the school about academic support, Independence Elementary may be a fit worth exploring.
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