Lindbergh Elementary, Madison WI

Original Research by School Decision on Lindbergh Elementary

Lindbergh Elementary is a regular public school in the Madison Metropolitan School District, serving children from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade. It sits within the city of Madison, a mid-sized state capital and university city whose character is shaped by government, education, healthcare, information technology, and agribusiness. The school’s location places it in a residentially diverse neighborhood in a city that is the fastest-growing in Wisconsin, driven by the education, healthcare, and technology sectors. Housing values in the area where Lindbergh sits are above the statewide benchmark, and rents have been rising, which reflects the broader growth and development pressure across the metro area.

Lindbergh is a small elementary school. Its student body is racially and ethnically varied, with no single group forming a majority. The largest share of students is Black, followed by White, two or more races, Hispanic, and Asian. A substantial share of students qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating that many families in the school community are managing economic constraints. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about the supports offered for those populations.

On the Wisconsin Forward Exam, the school’s state assessment, proficiency rates in math and English language arts were well below the midpoint among elementary schools in Dane County, placing Lindbergh in the bottom quartile overall for proficiency across tested subjects and grades. In third-grade math and English language arts, about one in five students scored proficient. In fourth grade, English language arts rose modestly to roughly one in four, while math held at about the same rate. By fifth grade, both subjects declined again, with math and English language arts each seeing a small fraction of students reach proficiency. In fourth-grade science, about one in four students were proficient, while social studies saw a bit more than one in three reach that mark. Participation rates were high, which adds reliability to the picture these results provide.

These are the school’s clear soft spots. A parent considering Lindbergh should know that the academic attainment reflected in these results is low when set against district and county peers. This is the central fact of the school’s academic profile, and it warrants a direct conversation with the school about its improvement plans, intervention strategies, and how it supports students who are not yet meeting grade-level benchmarks.

Because Lindbergh is an elementary school, there is no graduation rate to report. The data did not include information on discipline, course access, attendance, or staffing, so a parent may need to inquire about school climate, class sizes, and the availability of specialist teachers in art, music, physical education, and libraries. No program listings were provided.

The Madison Metropolitan School District has undergone growth and change in recent years, though specifics on new building construction during the 2022 to 2024 period were not found in publicly available web research. The district’s priorities and initiatives would be best understood by visiting its website or speaking with school leadership directly.

Lindbergh Elementary serves a family who values a small, diverse school community in a growing city, but the academic results are a significant concern that should be explored thoroughly before enrollment. For families who seek a school where the majority of students are meeting grade-level expectations, this school will likely not provide that experience based on the available data.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 320%

School 20% · District 46% · ▼ 26 pts below district

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

Grade 415%

School 15% · District 45% · ▼ 29 pts below district

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

Grade 521%

School 21% · District 41% · ▼ 20 pts below district

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

English language arts

Grade 320%

School 20% · District 47% · ▼ 26 pts below district

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

Grade 427%

School 27% · District 50% · ▼ 23 pts below district

▼ 25 pts below state median · ▼ 30 pts below county median

Grade 511%

School 11% · District 46% · ▼ 35 pts below district

▼ 40 pts below state median · ▼ 43 pts below county median

Science

Grade 427%

School 27% · District 47% · ▼ 20 pts below district

▼ 25 pts below state median · ▼ 30 pts below county median

Social studies

Grade 435%

School 35% · District 59% · ▼ 24 pts below district

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

This schoolMadison Metropolitan 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-income6%Higher-income44%38 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income13%Higher-income33%21 pp gap