Northside Elementary, La Crosse WI

Original Research by School Decision on Northside Elementary

Northside Elementary is a regular public school in La Crosse, Wisconsin, serving students from prekindergarten through fifth grade. It is one of the elementary schools in the La Crosse School District and sits within the city’s north side neighborhoods.

La Crosse itself is a mid-sized river city situated where the Black, La Crosse, and Mississippi Rivers meet, ringed by tall bluffs. The city has a college-town feel, home to the University of Wisconsin–La Crosse, Viterbo University, and Western Technical College, which together bring thousands of students into the area. Healthcare, manufacturing, and education anchor the regional economy, with major employers like Gundersen Health System, Mayo Clinic Health System, Trane, and Kwik Trip. The downtown core along the Mississippi Riverfront includes the La Crosse Center, Riverside Park, and historic buildings, while the city is physically split into north and south sections by the La Crosse River marshland. The population has seen slight decline in recent years, partly due to suburbanization, and the city is home to one of Wisconsin’s largest Hmong communities. Public transit and Amtrak serve the area, and the La Crosse Regional Airport connects to larger hubs.

Northside Elementary enrolls roughly 250 students, making it a relatively small school for its grade band. Its student body is diverse: about two-fifths of students are white, with Asian students making up the next largest group, followed by students who identify as two or more races, then Black and Hispanic students. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a figure well above the state average, which situates the school in a lower-income context. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available in the records we examined, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about those supports.

State testing results for the 2024–25 school year show a mixed picture. In mathematics, proficiency rates declined across the tested grades: roughly a third of third graders met the proficient or above threshold, while by fifth grade the share dropped to about a quarter. English language arts results followed a similar pattern, with around a third of third graders proficient, falling to about a sixth of fifth graders. Science, tested only in fourth grade, showed about a quarter of students proficient. Social studies, also tested in fourth grade, was the strongest area, with about half of students reaching proficiency. Participation rates were high, so the results reflect nearly all enrolled students. Overall, when these results are combined into a single proficiency index and compared with other districts in La Crosse County, Northside Elementary falls in the bottom quartile — a position that warrants a closer look by families deciding whether the school’s academic trajectory matches their expectations.

Because the school serves only elementary grades, there is no graduation rate or college-readiness data to consider. No information was available on disciplinary incidents, chronic absenteeism, or staff qualifications. The district’s website did not surface recent parent-relevant changes such as boundary adjustments or new program launches, though La Crosse as a whole has a community overview and economic development page indicating active planning. For the purposes of a family evaluating Northside Elementary, the school is defined by its relatively small, economically diverse student population, a city setting with a college-town and riverfront character, and academic outcomes that trail most other schools in La Crosse County — a gap that a prospective family would likely want to discuss with the principal or visit to see instruction and school climate firsthand.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 335%

School 35% · District 46% · ▼ 12 pts below district

▼ 22 pts below state median · ▼ 23 pts below county median

Grade 437%

School 37% · District 46% · ▼ 9 pts below district

▼ 17 pts below state median · ▼ 18 pts below county median

Grade 527%

School 27% · District 39% · ▼ 12 pts below district

▼ 24 pts below state median · ▼ 23 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 336%

School 36% · District 46% · ▼ 11 pts below district

▼ 17 pts below state median · ▼ 21 pts below county median

Grade 424%

School 24% · District 43% · ▼ 19 pts below district

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

Grade 516%

School 16% · District 42% · ▼ 25 pts below district

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

Science

Grade 426%

School 26% · District 49% · ▼ 23 pts below district

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

Social studies

Grade 450%

School 50% · District 64% · ▼ 14 pts below district

▼ 15 pts below state median · ▼ 22 pts below county median

This schoolLa Crosse 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-income22%Higher-income60%38 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income17%Higher-income14%2 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income21%Higher-income60%39 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income27%Higher-income29%2 pp gap