The top reported proficiency rate is 54% in Social studies. The lowest is 46% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Sugar Bush Elementary
Sugar Bush Elementary sits in a rural corner just north of New London, Wisconsin, serving children from pre-kindergarten through fourth grade. It is a regular public school within the New London School District, and its location on County Road WW places it outside the city's downtown core, surrounded by farmland and scattered homes. For a family considering this area, the school offers a small, self-contained primary environment where students spend their earliest academic years before moving to the district's intermediate and middle schools.
New London itself is a small city straddling Waupaca and Outagamie counties at the confluence of the Wolf and Embarrass Rivers. Its history as a lumber center and steamboat terminus is still visible in the downtown's historic buildings, and today the river drives a recreation economy of fishing, boating, tubing, and kayaking. The Newton-Blackmour State Trail and the Sturgeon Trail provide walking and biking routes, and annual events such as the St. Patrick's Day festival, Heritage Days, and a fall cheese and sausage festival bring seasonal foot traffic. The city's population has been relatively stable in recent years, with no major growth or decline reported. The school district itself is a significant local employer, but no other large private employers were identified in publicly available information.
On statewide assessments, Sugar Bush Elementary's students showed mixed results. In both math and English language arts, the share of students scoring proficient or above varied across grades, with third-grade reading and fourth-grade math each reaching about half of students. Social studies and science results for fourth graders were in a similar range, with social studies showing a slightly higher share meeting the state's proficiency targets. The school's overall proficiency index, which averages results across tested subjects and grades, placed it in the bottom quartile when compared with the eight school districts in Outagamie County. Families who value high test scores may want to ask the district about specific instructional strategies and support programs. The school had full participation in testing, which means the results reflect nearly every enrolled student in those grades.
The student body is small and predominantly white, with a modest share of Hispanic students and a handful of students identifying as two or more races or American Indian. No enrollment data for students with disabilities or English learners was reported. Roughly half of the students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a marker of moderate economic need that aligns with the surrounding community's income levels. Housing in the area is more affordable than the state average; the typical home value is well below Wisconsin's median, and the ratio of home prices to income suggests a market that is accessible for many working families.
Because Sugar Bush Elementary serves only the early grades, there is no graduation rate, chronic absenteeism data, or advanced coursework to report. Parents looking ahead will want to learn about the district's intermediate, middle, and high school programs, as those schools will shape the later academic and extracurricular experience. No information on special programs, magnet options, or course access was available in the data reviewed.
For a family seeking a small, rural elementary school in a community built around river recreation and a stable housing market, Sugar Bush Elementary offers a straightforward primary pathway. The academic results are a point to explore further with the school and district, particularly to understand how they address the learning gaps that the assessments indicate.
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