Donges Bay Elementary, Mequon WI

Original Research by School Decision on Donges Bay Elementary

Donges Bay Elementary is a regular public elementary school serving pre-kindergarten through fifth grade in Mequon, part of the Mequon-Thiensville School District. The school is one of several elementaries feeding into the district's middle and high schools, and its enrollment is large enough to sustain full grade-level teams. The student body is predominantly white, with smaller shares of students who identify as two or more races, Black, Hispanic, and Asian. A very small share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the high-income character of the surrounding community.

State assessment results, available for grades three through five, show overall proficiency that sits above the midpoint among districts in Ozaukee County. In math, the share of students scoring proficient or above rises across the tested grades, from a solid showing in third grade to a stronger one in fifth grade. English language arts results are more variable: fourth graders post a particularly high proficiency rate, while third and fifth graders come in at a less robust level. Science and social studies are tested only in fourth grade, and in both subjects the school’s results are strong. A parent looking at these patterns may want to ask the school how it supports literacy growth across the grade span, especially entering and exiting the intermediate years.

The school serves only elementary grades, so it has no graduation rate to report. That is by design, not a gap in performance.

Mequon is a large, low-density suburban city roughly a short drive north of Milwaukee. It is marked by high housing values, a small share of rental properties, and a population that has been essentially flat in recent years. A substantial portion of land within the city remains undeveloped or farmed, giving parts of Mequon a rural feel even as commercial corridors run along the interstate. The Village of Thiensville sits entirely within Mequon’s borders and serves as a walkable historic center; the two communities share a school district, library, and chamber of commerce. The district completed facility improvements funded by a voter-approved referendum, including safety upgrades and classroom renovations across all schools, and adjusted elementary attendance boundaries effective for the 2022-2023 school year. A family moving into the area should confirm which elementary their address feeds into.

The overall picture is of an elementary school serving a predominantly affluent suburban community, with academic results that are above average for the county but show some unevenness in reading across grades. The school’s size provides a full range of elementary grade levels in one building. A family considering Donges Bay should weigh the strong math and science proficiency, the high level of family resources in the area, and the specific literacy pattern when deciding if it matches their child’s needs.

See more original research from School Decision →

Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 373%

School 73% · District 84% · ▼ 11 pts below district

▲ 17 pts above state median · ▼ 8 pts below county median

Grade 474%

School 74% · District 73% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 20 pts above state median · ▲ 2 pts above county median

Grade 577%

School 77% · District 81% · ▼ 3 pts below district

▲ 26 pts above state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 367%

School 67% · District 76% · ▼ 9 pts below district

▲ 14 pts above state median · ▼ 13 pts below county median

Grade 484%

School 84% · District 73% · ▲ 12 pts above district

▲ 32 pts above state median · ▲ 9 pts above county median

Grade 568%

School 68% · District 77% · ▼ 9 pts below district

▲ 17 pts above state median · ▼ 10 pts below county median

Science

Grade 480%

School 80% · District 71% · ▲ 9 pts above district

▲ 29 pts above state median · ▲ 12 pts above county median

Social studies

Grade 490%

School 90% · District 81% · ▲ 9 pts above district

▲ 25 pts above state median · ▲ 4 pts above county median

This schoolMequon-Thiensville 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-income29%Higher-income71%43 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income29%Higher-income79%50 pp gap