Dunwiddie Elementary, Port Washington WI

Original Research by School Decision on Dunwiddie Elementary

Dunwiddie Elementary serves students from pre-kindergarten through fourth grade in Port Washington, part of the Port Washington-Saukville School District. It is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet. Because the grade band stops at fourth grade, there are no high school outcomes like a graduation rate to report; academic measures come from the state’s Forward assessments for the tested grades.

Academically, Dunwiddie performs at a level that places it in the top quartile among districts in Ozaukee County when looking at overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades. In third grade, math and English language arts results show strong achievement. In fourth grade, where students take a wider set of assessments including science and social studies, the pattern of solid performance continues. Participation in testing is essentially complete, so the results reflect nearly all enrolled students. A parent looking at these numbers can see a school where the large majority of children meet state proficiency benchmarks in reading, math, and other subjects.

The student body is predominantly white, with Hispanic students, students of two or more races, Asian students, and Black students each making up smaller shares. A sizable portion of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting moderate economic diversity. The school’s enrollment is moderate for an elementary serving these grades.

Port Washington sits on Lake Michigan’s western shore, about half an hour north of Milwaukee, and serves as the county seat of Ozaukee County. It began as a commercial fishing village and Great Lakes port and retains a distinct downtown core in a valley where Sauk Creek meets the lake. The harbor shifted from commercial shipping to recreational use, and the city now draws on lakefront tourism, county government functions, and a historic downtown with a lighthouse museum, marina, beaches, and trails. The Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary lies offshore. Home values in Port Washington are above the national median, and rents are moderate relative to typical incomes, making the area a middle-to-upper housing market compared to the country as a whole. The community has seen modest population growth in recent years.

The Port Washington-Saukville School District has not passed a recent capital or operational referendum, and its fiscal profile shows stable debt service and minimal capital outlay, so families are not facing new large-scale tax or construction changes in the near term. The district appears to be in a steady, unremarkable period financially.

For a family considering Dunwiddie, the picture is of a well-performing primary school in a stable district, set in a small lakeside city that blends historic character with modern residential and recreational life. The academic results are consistently strong across tested subjects, and the school’s standing relative to other Ozaukee County districts is high. The student body is fairly homogeneous racially, with economic diversity at a level that is common for a public school in this area. There is no data available on chronic absenteeism, discipline, or staffing ratios, so a parent with specific concerns about those areas would need to follow up directly with the school. Overall, this is a school that fits a family seeking a reliable, above-average academic start for young children in a community that offers a defined lakefront identity and moderate suburban convenience.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 379%

School 79% · District 71% · ▲ 8 pts above district

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

Grade 475%

School 75% · District 70% · ▲ 5 pts above district

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

English language arts

Grade 384%

School 84% · District 75% · ▲ 10 pts above district

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

Grade 479%

School 79% · District 78% · ▲ 2 pts above district

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

Science

Grade 471%

School 71% · District 64% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▲ 19 pts above state median · ▲ 2 pts above county median

Social studies

Grade 482%

School 82% · District 80% · ▲ 2 pts above district

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

This schoolPort Washington-Saukville 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-income71%Higher-income90%19 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income55%Higher-income91%37 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income59%Higher-income88%29 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income41%Higher-income91%50 pp gap