Original Research by School Decision on Taylor Prairie Elementary
Taylor Prairie Elementary serves only the earliest grades, prekindergarten and kindergarten, in the Monona Grove School District, a rapidly growing corner of Dane County. Because the school stops at kindergarten, it has no state test results to report; those assessments begin in third grade. For the same reason there is no graduation rate. The school’s academic story starts later, and for now the focus is on the foundational years.
The student body is predominantly white, with a Hispanic share in the double digits and smaller groups of Black, Asian, and multiracial students. Roughly one out of five students qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, a share that is modest in the context of the district and county. The school enrolls a few hundred children, split about evenly between prekindergarten and kindergarten, which is a typical size for a primary campus serving two grade levels.
Cottage Grove itself is a village that has been growing fast, its population rising notably since the 2020 census. New housing stock, much of it owner-occupied, is being built, and home values in the zip code sit well above the national median. The village is largely car-dependent; most residents commute to work, often to Madison, which is a short drive west. Commercial development is clustered near the I-94 corridor, anchored by a large Amazon distribution center. Parks and the Glacial Drumlin State Trail trailhead provide outdoor recreation, but there is no traditional walkable downtown core. The community is essentially a bedroom suburb feeding into the Madison metro economy, with the school district a clear draw for families.
A recent district-level decision will reshape the elementary landscape for Cottage Grove families. In late 2025, the Monona Grove School Board voted to consolidate Taylor Prairie and the neighboring Cottage Grove School (which currently serves grades one and two) into a single campus operating as a 4K through second grade school starting in the 2026-27 school year. The move was driven by facility capacity, enrollment trends, and operational costs. That means the current separate arrangement for youngest children will soon end, and families entering the district after that date will send their child to a combined early elementary site rather than to Taylor Prairie as a standalone kindergarten building. For now, Taylor Prairie remains a dedicated early childhood entry point within a growing district that serves Monona and Cottage Grove, in a village that continues to add both residents and commercial development.
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