Riverdale Elementary, Muscoda WI

Original Research by School Decision on Riverdale Elementary

Riverdale Elementary serves children from prekindergarten through sixth grade in the village of Muscoda, a small community set along the Wisconsin River in the southwestern part of the state. The school is part of the Riverdale School District, and its elementary building and the district's middle school and high school are all located within the village, giving the district a contained, integrated feel in a town where civic and school life overlap closely.

The student body is predominantly white, with a modest share of students identifying as two or more races and smaller numbers of Hispanic and Asian students. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a measure that reflects the economic profile of the community. Muscoda itself combines a residential base with a notable industrial sector; employers include a steel honing operation, a cheese manufacturer, a health and rehabilitation center, and several smaller manufacturers and woodworking businesses. The village describes itself as having an industrial base larger than many communities its size. Housing values sit below the national and state benchmarks, which aligns with the area's rural character.

Academically, the school participates in Wisconsin's Forward exam, and the data shows a mixed picture across grades and subjects. In math, the share of students scoring proficient or above trends downward as grade levels rise, with the highest proficiency seen in third grade and the lowest in sixth grade. English language arts proficiency follows a similar pattern, with the strongest results in third grade and a noticeable drop by sixth grade. Fourth-grade science proficiency is lower than the school's math and ELA results in that grade, while fourth-grade social studies proficiency is higher, landing closer to the school's stronger subjects. Overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades places the school slightly below the midpoint when compared with other districts in Grant County. A parent may want to ask the school how it supports students transitioning from the early primary years into the upper elementary grades, where the testing data shows a softened performance.

The school does not serve high school grades, so there is no graduation rate to report, nor are there chronic absenteeism figures in the available data. No information was found on special education or English learner populations, discipline statistics, staffing ratios, or course access, which limits a full view of student support structures. The school is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet. It is not designated a Title I school in the data provided, though the substantial share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch would typically place it in that category; a parent may want to confirm with the district.

For a family weighing this school, the essential takeaway is that Riverdale Elementary offers a familiar, small-town setting where a child moves through PK-6 in one building before transitioning to the shared middle and high school campus in the same village. Academic performance is strongest in the early elementary years, and families with children entering in those grades may find a solid start, while those with older elementary students may want to understand how the school addresses the slide in proficiency seen in the upper grades. The community is economically modest, with a working industrial base and affordable housing relative to state and national averages. The village provides outdoor recreational amenities including a riverbank campground and a public pool, and the school sits within walking distance of some of these, but Muscoda is a rural village and car dependency is the norm for most errands and connections outside town.

See more original research from School Decision →

Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 371%

School 71% · District 71%

▲ 15 pts above state median · ▼ 2 pts below county median

Grade 460%

School 60% · District 60%

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

Grade 558%

School 58% · District 58%

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

Grade 650%

School 50% · District 50%

▼ 4 pts below state median · ▼ 18 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 366%

School 66% · District 66%

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

Grade 458%

School 58% · District 58%

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

Grade 564%

School 64% · District 64%

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

Grade 652%

School 52% · District 52%

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

Science

Grade 446%

School 46% · District 46%

▼ 6 pts below state median · ▼ 10 pts below county median

Social studies

Grade 467%

School 67% · District 67%

▲ 2 pts above state median · ▼ 2 pts below county median

This schoolRiverdale 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-income65%Higher-income67%2 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income47%Higher-income76%29 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income40%Higher-income81%41 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income44%Higher-income63%19 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income65%Higher-income80%15 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income47%Higher-income81%34 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income40%Higher-income71%31 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income36%Higher-income68%32 pp gap