Jefferson Elementary, Kenosha WI

Original Research by School Decision on Jefferson Elementary

Jefferson Elementary serves students from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade in Kenosha, a mid-sized city on Lake Michigan between Milwaukee and Chicago. The school building sits on 43rd Street in a residential section of the city. It is a regular public school within the Kenosha Unified School District, and it is not a charter or magnet school.

The student body at Jefferson is diverse and draws from the surrounding neighborhood. Roughly a quarter of the students are white, while about three out of ten are Black and nearly four out of ten are Hispanic. A substantial majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which places the school in a high-poverty context.

State testing results from the school year 2023-24 show reading and math proficiency rates that are well below the midpoint among districts in Kenosha County. In math, proficiency levels across third, fourth, and fifth grades were low, with the highest rate in third grade and a further decline by fifth grade. In English language arts, the pattern was similar, with each tested grade recording a small share of students meeting proficiency. Science and social studies are tested in fourth grade only, and those results likewise show a small fraction of students reaching the proficient level. Because state cut scores for English language arts and math changed recently, direct comparisons to prior years may not be reliable, a parent may want to ask the school for context on how scores have trended under the current assessment framework.

Jefferson is an elementary school only, so there is no graduation rate to report and no secondary course offerings such as Advanced Placement or career and technical programs. That is a function of the grade band, not a missing element.

The Kenosha Unified School District has been navigating enrollment declines that have driven budget challenges and school consolidation. In 2023, the district voted to close six schools as part of a "rightsizing" effort, redrawing attendance boundaries and reducing the number of neighborhood school options. Families considering Jefferson should be aware that district-level changes may affect long-term school assignments or program availability, though no further closures have been publicly reported since the 2023 plan.

The city of Kenosha itself offers a lakefront with public beaches, parks, a restored electric streetcar system, and several museums. Major employers include Snap-on and Jockey International headquarters, along with distribution centers for Amazon and other firms. Housing costs in the zip code area fall below the statewide benchmark for Wisconsin, and the area has seen modest appreciation.

For a parent making a decision, the central facts about Jefferson Elementary are these: it is a neighborhood school serving a high-poverty population, enrollment is stable within its grade band, and state test results show low proficiency rates across subjects and grades. A parent wanting to understand academic support, intervention programs, or how the school is working to raise performance would benefit from a direct conversation with the principal or a visit to the school.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 327%

School 27% · District 46% · ▼ 18 pts below district

▼ 29 pts below state median · ▼ 24 pts below county median

Grade 418%

School 18% · District 49% · ▼ 31 pts below district

▼ 36 pts below state median · ▼ 35 pts below county median

Grade 512%

School 12% · District 45% · ▼ 33 pts below district

▼ 39 pts below state median · ▼ 37 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 312%

School 12% · District 42% · ▼ 30 pts below district

▼ 41 pts below state median · ▼ 32 pts below county median

Grade 413%

School 13% · District 47% · ▼ 34 pts below district

▼ 40 pts below state median · ▼ 36 pts below county median

Grade 59%

School 9% · District 45% · ▼ 36 pts below district

▼ 42 pts below state median · ▼ 41 pts below county median

Science

Grade 49%

School 9% · District 41% · ▼ 32 pts below district

▼ 42 pts below state median · ▼ 33 pts below county median

Social studies

Grade 424%

School 24% · District 57% · ▼ 33 pts below district

▼ 41 pts below state median · ▼ 32 pts below county median

This schoolKenosha 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.