Oriole Lane Elementary, Mequon WI

Original Research by School Decision on Oriole Lane Elementary

Oriole Lane Elementary serves just over five hundred students from prekindergarten through fifth grade in the Mequon-Thiensville School District. It sits in Mequon, a large, low-density suburb of Milwaukee defined by residential subdivisions on sizable lots, commercial strips along the interstate, and a notable amount of remaining farmland. The city fully surrounds the small Village of Thiensville, and the two share a school district, a library, and a chamber of commerce. The community is affluent and has seen essentially flat population growth in recent years.

The school’s student body is predominantly white, with small shares of Asian, Hispanic, Black, and multiracial students. About one in seven students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a rate that points to a relatively narrow band of economic diversity. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available, a gap that families may want to ask the school about directly.

On the Wisconsin Forward assessments, results are strong overall, and a parent can see the typical shape of a building that serves multiple tested grades. In math, the third-grade cohort recorded a high proficiency rate, the fourth-grade rate was somewhat lower, and the fifth-grade rate recovered to a level close to the third grade’s. In English language arts, the pattern is similar: third and fifth graders showed high proficiency, while fourth graders were notably lower. Science and social studies are tested only in fourth grade; both results were lower than what the same cohort showed in math and ELA that year. The dip in fourth grade is something a parent may want to discuss with the school, as it appears across multiple subjects and could reflect anything from a cohort effect to the way the test content ramps up at that level.

The school does not offer high school programs or have a graduation rate to report, as it serves only elementary grades. The district as a whole is the relevant context for a parent considering the upper grades. Mequon-Thiensville voters approved a referendum in 2020 to fund facility improvements across all six schools, including safety and security upgrades and classroom renovations. Elementary attendance boundaries were also adjusted as part of that project, so a family moving into the district will want to confirm which elementary school their address feeds.

When measured against the other five districts in Ozaukee County, Oriole Lane Elementary’s overall proficiency index sits just below the midpoint of the group. That is not a weak result, given the high-performing county it belongs to, but it does mean that several other elementary schools in the area posted higher composite scores. The gap is not wide, and the school’s own results, particularly in third and fifth grades, are solid.

For a family, this is a school in a community where housing costs are high and the tax base is healthy, set in a district that has recently invested in its facilities. The academic picture is strong but not uniformly so, with the fourth-grade scores a point to check. The peer environment is one where the share of students in poverty is low, and the surrounding suburb is car-dependent, rural in feel over much of its large area, and oriented toward Milwaukee for employment. The school is a conventional public elementary building in a district with a clear track record of voter support and a stable population.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 388%

School 88% · District 84% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▲ 31 pts above state median · ▲ 6 pts above county median

Grade 471%

School 71% · District 73% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▲ 17 pts above state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

Grade 583%

School 83% · District 81% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▲ 32 pts above state median · ▲ 7 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 381%

School 81% · District 76% · ▲ 5 pts above district

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

Grade 466%

School 66% · District 73% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▲ 14 pts above state median · ▼ 9 pts below county median

Grade 582%

School 82% · District 77% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▲ 31 pts above state median · ▲ 3 pts above county median

Science

Grade 465%

School 65% · District 71% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▲ 14 pts above state median · ▼ 4 pts below county median

Social studies

Grade 471%

School 71% · District 81% · ▼ 10 pts below district

▲ 6 pts above state median · ▼ 14 pts below 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-income64%Higher-income84%20 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income42%Higher-income71%30 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income63%Higher-income86%23 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income71%Higher-income91%19 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income46%Higher-income77%31 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income69%Higher-income86%17 pp gap