Monona Grove Liberal Arts, Monona WI

Original Research by School Decision on Monona Grove Liberal Arts

Monona Grove Liberal Arts is a small charter school within the Monona Grove School District, serving grades six through twelve. It operates as a regular public school with a charter designation, meaning it has a distinct educational focus and flexibility within the district framework. The school is housed on the same campus as the district’s main high school, sharing the address on Monona Drive in the suburb of Monona, which sits on the southeastern shore of Lake Monona just outside Madison.

The school’s enrollment is small, with a student body that is predominantly white and includes a small Hispanic population and a very small share of students who identify as two or more races. About a quarter of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a rate that is modest compared to many public schools. The charter serves the full range of middle and high school grades, from sixth through twelfth, with a fairly even spread across those years.

On state assessments, which are taken in grades six through eight, results show a mixed picture. In sixth grade, roughly two-thirds of students met proficiency in math and just under three-fifths in English language arts, a solid showing. Eighth grade performance was notably stronger, with about three-fifths proficient in math, nearly three-quarters in English language arts, and around the same share in social studies. Science proficiency in eighth grade was closer to half. Seventh grade results were a clear soft spot, with just over a quarter of students proficient in both math and English language arts. The small number of students tested in each grade means these figures can swing year to year, but a parent may want to follow up with the school on how they support students through the transition to seventh grade. Overall, the school’s combined proficiency index across all tested subjects and grades sits below the midpoint among districts in Dane County, a competitive county with many strong performers.

Because the school includes high school grades, a graduation rate would typically be available, but it was not reported in the data provided. The district brief notes a significant operational change: in late 2025, the school board voted to consolidate two of the district’s elementary schools into a single 4K through second grade site starting in the 2026-27 school year, a change driven by facility capacity and enrollment trends. That consolidation does not directly affect this charter school, but it signals that the district is actively managing its physical footprint.

Monona itself is a small, landlocked suburb that saw explosive growth in the 1950s and has since stabilized. Its civic life centers on a cluster of public buildings near Nichols and Schluter Roads, while commercial activity runs along Broadway and Monona Drive. Housing values in the area are high, reflecting the broader Madison market, and the city promotes a lower tax rate than its larger neighbor. The school’s location within this suburban context means families are choosing a small, focused charter environment within a well-regarded district, rather than the larger comprehensive high school that serves most students in the district. For a family considering this school, the key trade-offs are its intimate scale, the autonomy of a charter program, and the uneven test results, particularly the seventh-grade dip, against the backdrop of a competitive county where many neighboring options post higher overall proficiency numbers.

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Academic performance

State test results and graduation outcomes.

Graduation rate (ACGR)

>=50%Cohort of 9 students · Class of 2021

The federal source publishes a banded range instead of an exact rate when the graduating cohort is small enough that an exact number could risk identifying individual students.

How this school compares to all schools in this state

Each dot is one school’s SY 2020-21 graduation rate, binned by integer rate. Taller columns mean more schools at that rate. This school is highlighted.

528 schools plotted. 25 additional schools' rates are federally suppressed and not shown. Data: EDFacts SY 2020-21.

Math

Grade 667%

School 67% · District 65% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▲ 13 pts above state median · ▲ 8 pts above county median

Grade 727%

School 27% · District 63% · ▼ 35 pts below district

▼ 27 pts below state median · ▼ 34 pts below county median

Grade 860%

School 60% · District 45% · ▲ 15 pts above district

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

English language arts

Grade 658%

School 58% · District 63% · ▼ 5 pts below district

▲ 5 pts above state median · even with county median

Grade 727%

School 27% · District 52% · ▼ 25 pts below district

▼ 25 pts below state median · ▼ 29 pts below county median

Grade 873%

School 73% · District 47% · ▲ 27 pts above district

▲ 21 pts above state median · ▲ 14 pts above county median

Science

Grade 853%

School 53% · District 46% · ▲ 7 pts above district

▲ 2 pts above state median · even with county median

Social studies

Grade 873%

School 73% · District 63% · ▲ 10 pts above district

▲ 9 pts above state median · ▲ 4 pts above 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.