Elmwood Elementary, New Berlin WI

Original Research by School Decision on Elmwood Elementary

Elmwood Elementary serves students from prekindergarten through sixth grade in New Berlin, a predominantly residential suburb of Milwaukee set within Waukesha County. The school is one of four elementary schools in the New Berlin School District and operates as a regular public school. The city itself lacks a traditional downtown core and grew rapidly through the mid-twentieth century, propelled by the development of its industrial parks, before stabilizing into a largely built-out suburb of single-family homes. That context matters for understanding the school’s enrollment, which draws from established residential subdivisions rather than a rapidly growing or changing population.

Academically, the picture is mixed across grade levels and subjects. In mathematics, the share of students reaching proficiency was very strong in third grade, held in fourth grade, and rose in fifth grade, then slipped noticeably by sixth grade. A similar pattern appeared in English language arts, where the proportion of proficient students was solid in third grade, dipped in fourth, recovered in fifth, and then dropped by sixth. Fourth-grade science results were softer, with a share of students scoring proficient that a parent may want to look into further with the school. Social studies results for the same fourth-grade cohort were notably stronger. The classroom-level pattern is worth noting: a family considering this school might ask how the school supports students in the upper elementary years as the academic bar rises.

The school’s overall proficiency index, which averages results across all tested subjects and grades, lands below the midpoint compared to other schools in Waukesha County districts. That is a straightforward statement of position relative to a set of twenty-four districts in the same county. It does not mean the school is failing; it tells a reader that on this composite measure, a number of other districts in the county posted higher combined rates.

Enrollment is a single elementary cohort split fairly evenly across kindergarten through sixth grade, with a very small prekindergarten program. The student body is predominantly white, with a substantial Asian cohort and a smaller Hispanic cohort. The share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch is modest, indicating a low-poverty profile for the school. Data on students with individualized education programs and English learners was not available in the information provided, so it is not possible to speak to the school’s special education or English language support contexts from the data at hand.

Because Elmwood Elementary serves only through sixth grade, there is no graduation rate to report. That is not a missing metric; it simply does not apply to a school whose oldest students are eleven or twelve years old. Chronic absenteeism and other civil-rights data were also absent from the available record.

The community surrounding the school is affluent relative to state and national norms. Housing values in the area reflect that, with the typical home priced well above national benchmarks. Rents are also elevated. This is a suburb that commands a premium, and the school’s student demographics are consistent with a community where economic need is limited.

A parent or resident weighing this school will want to consider the academic trajectory. The early elementary years look strong in math and reading, while the upper grades show some loss of momentum, particularly in sixth-grade math and English language arts. The school sits in a stable, car-dependent suburb with good parks and a strong industrial tax base, but no walkable downtown. For a family that values a low-poverty, high-home-value setting and a school with solid early-elementary results, Elmwood fits. For a family concerned about how the school sustains proficiency as students move toward middle school, the sixth-grade numbers give a reason to ask questions of the school directly.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 380%

School 80% · District 80%

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

Grade 479%

School 79% · District 79%

▲ 25 pts above state median · ▲ 4 pts above county median

Grade 583%

School 83% · District 78% · ▲ 5 pts above district

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

Grade 674%

School 74% · District 77% · ▼ 2 pts below district

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

English language arts

Grade 372%

School 72% · District 72%

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

Grade 467%

School 67% · District 72% · ▼ 5 pts below district

▲ 15 pts above state median · ▼ 5 pts below county median

Grade 575%

School 75% · District 73% · ▲ 2 pts above district

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

Grade 665%

School 65% · District 72% · ▼ 7 pts below district

▲ 12 pts above state median · ▼ 10 pts below county median

Science

Grade 460%

School 60% · District 69% · ▼ 9 pts below district

▲ 8 pts above state median · ▼ 8 pts below county median

Social studies

Grade 473%

School 73% · District 85% · ▼ 12 pts below district

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

This schoolNew Berlin 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 4Lower-income50%Higher-income69%19 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income67%Higher-income77%10 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income70%Higher-income64%6 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 4Lower-income50%Higher-income82%32 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income60%Higher-income88%28 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income60%Higher-income76%16 pp gap