Original Research by School Decision on Ba Kennedy School
BA Kennedy School serves the youngest students in the Prairie du Chien Area School District, covering prekindergarten through second grade. This is a regular public school, not a charter, and because it serves only the primary grades, key metrics that families often look for — state test scores, a graduation rate, chronic absenteeism data — simply do not apply here. The school's mission is focused on the earliest years of formal education, and the academic benchmarks that are reported for older students will be found at the district's other schools.
The school's enrollment of roughly two hundred and forty students is divided fairly evenly across prekindergarten through second grade, with slightly larger groups in prekindergarten and second grade. Demographically, the student body is overwhelmingly white. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, above a typical blend for the district's setting. Data on students with individualized education programs and English learners was not available in the school's records.
The school sits in Prairie du Chien, a small historic river city that serves as the Crawford County seat and the region's commercial hub. The town's economy blends manufacturing, retail, services, tourism, and government employment. Major employers include 3M, Cabela's, a full-service hospital, and county and state government offices. The city is compact, situated in a triangular plain between the Mississippi River, the Wisconsin River, and bluffs. A historic downtown, riverfront park on St. Feriole Island, and multiple National Historic Landmarks give the community a character that is more anchored in its past than in new growth; publicly reported information did not identify major recent housing developments or growth initiatives. The city functions as a destination for surrounding rural areas and the Iowa side of the river, offering retail, dining, and parks that residents of smaller towns in the region drive some distance to reach.
The district that operates BA Kennedy, Prairie du Chien Area School District, made news in 2024 for proposing an operational bond. This type of referendum is for maintaining existing facilities and programs, not for building new ones — a choice that directly affects the condition and stability of the schools a family would rely on. Parents in the district will want to understand the outcome and ongoing condition of the district's facilities.
For a family evaluating this school, the primary question is not academic output, because those measures come later in a student's career. The fit depends on what a family wants from an early childhood and primary program. The school is the entry point for the district, and the community context is that of a stable regional hub without rapid expansion. A parent may want to look into the school's approach to early literacy, class size, and support for the share of students who qualify for meal assistance, as those are the kinds of details that matter most at this grade band. The housing market in the area, based on available data, reflects home values that are notably below the state benchmark, with a year-over-year increase that is above the national trend, offering a more affordable entry point than many parts of Wisconsin.
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