Glacial Drumlin School, Cottage Grove WI

Original Research by School Decision on Glacial Drumlin School

Glacial Drumlin School serves grades six through eight as the single middle school in the Monona Grove School District, located in the village of Cottage Grove. The school draws from a community that has grown quickly in recent years, with new housing stock and commercial development near the interstate. Housing in the area carries a premium above both state and national levels, reflecting the desirability of the Madison metro region.

Enrollment is fairly balanced across the three grades, and the student body is predominantly white, with smaller shares of Hispanic, Black, Asian, and multiracial students. A modest share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, lower than in many school settings.

Academically, Glacial Drumlin shows a mixed picture. In the early middle school years, a majority of students meet state standards in both math and English language arts. By eighth grade, however, that share drops to below half in math and reading, and to about that level in science. Social studies proficiency remains stronger for eighth graders, with most meeting the bar. The school’s overall proficiency index, which averages results across subjects and grades, places it below the midpoint among the county’s districts. A parent may want to look into how the school supports students as they move through the middle grades, particularly in math and ELA.

Participation on state assessments was very high, which gives the results a reliable read of how the student body is performing. No data was available on chronic absenteeism or discipline, so those dimensions of school climate cannot be assessed here.

The school itself is the district’s only middle school and sits on a separate campus. The district recently voted to consolidate two of its early elementary schools into a single site for the next school year, a change that will affect families entering the system but not middle-school families directly.

Cottage Grove is a car-oriented village where most residents commute to work. The village has added an Amazon distribution center and other commercial development near the interstate, along with new housing. The Glacial Drumlin State Trail has its western trailhead here, offering a recreation link to Waukesha. The village maintains a substantial park system and several miles of trail.

For families weighing Glacial Drumlin, the academic profile shows solid early middle school performance softened by a notable decline in eighth grade. The surrounding housing market is expensive, and the area is growing. The school serves a single feeder pattern within a district that is in the middle of an elementary reconfiguration. The lack of program details, discipline data, and staffing information means a parent should expect to visit or ask the school directly for the fuller picture of student support and enrichment offerings.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 665%

School 65% · District 65%

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

Grade 764%

School 64% · District 63% · ▲ 2 pts above district

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

Grade 844%

School 44% · District 45% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▼ 8 pts below state median · ▼ 11 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 663%

School 63% · District 63%

▲ 10 pts above state median · ▲ 5 pts above county median

Grade 754%

School 54% · District 52% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 1 pts above state median · ▼ 3 pts below county median

Grade 845%

School 45% · District 47% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▼ 7 pts below state median · ▼ 14 pts below county median

Science

Grade 846%

School 46% · District 46%

▼ 5 pts below state median · ▼ 7 pts below county median

Social studies

Grade 862%

School 62% · District 63% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▼ 2 pts below state median · ▼ 7 pts below county median

This schoolMonona Grove 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 5Lower-income24%Higher-income35%12 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income37%Higher-income69%33 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income24%Higher-income60%36 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income11%Higher-income54%43 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 5Lower-income14%Higher-income30%16 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income37%Higher-income72%35 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income40%Higher-income70%30 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income13%Higher-income52%39 pp gap