Hatley Elementary, Hatley WI - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Hatley Elementary

Hatley Elementary is a regular public school serving pre-kindergarten through fifth grade in the village of Hatley, part of the D C Everest Area School District. It sits within a small, predominantly residential rural community in east-central Marathon County, part of the Wausau metropolitan area. The village has seen steady growth and functions largely as a bedroom community; most residents commute elsewhere in the region for work. Walkability is very limited, and the area is car-dependent, with Wisconsin Highway 29 running through the village. The Hatley Branch Library and a community center share a building in town, and a ball park sits on the site of a former sawmill. The school itself is located in the village on Emmonsville Road.

The school enrolls a small student body for its grade band. The student population is predominantly white, with smaller shares of Hispanic and Asian students. About a quarter of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a share that is below most of the district's other elementary buildings and suggests a relatively lower concentration of economic disadvantage than is typical across the district.

Hatley Elementary is part of a district that has made recent significant facility investments. In 2023, voters approved a referendum to construct a new middle school and fund district-wide renovations and safety upgrades, with a modest property-tax impact. In 2024, the district opened the Greenheck-Turner Community Center, a large facility with an indoor track, tennis courts, and a fieldhouse that serves both students and the broader community. A family moving to Hatley will have access to these newer district amenities, though the elementary building itself was not the direct focus of these projects.

State testing data is available for grades three through five. The results show a mixed picture that parents will want to examine closely. In third grade, math proficiency was at a rate roughly typical for the state, but English language arts proficiency was markedly lower. By fourth grade, both math and English language arts, as well as science and social studies, sat around the middle of the range. Fifth grade saw a notable upturn, with proficiency in both math and English language arts climbing to a level that is solidly stronger. This pattern, where early-grade reading results are a clear soft spot and later elementary results improve, is one a parent may want to discuss with the school to understand the instructional approach and support available for younger readers.

Across the full set of tested subjects and grades, the school’s overall proficiency index placed it in the bottom quartile relative to other districts in Marathon County. That county-level comparison includes larger and smaller districts alike, and it positions Hatley Elementary below the midpoint of that group. Because the school serves only elementary grades, no high school metrics such as graduation rate or college-going data apply here.

The school’s academic profile is thus one of uneven results by grade and subject, with a notable jump in fifth grade that suggests some students find their footing by the end of elementary. The small enrollment means that year-to-year changes in any single classroom can shift the overall picture considerably. For a family weighing this school, the key open questions are around reading support in the early grades and how the school addresses the dip seen in third grade. The district’s recent capital investments and community center additions point to a system willing to put resources into facilities, but the data available does not speak directly to classroom resources or staffing. A family moving to Hatley for a quieter rural setting with access to the broader Wausau area should expect to engage actively with the school on their child’s literacy progress in the primary years.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 375%

School 75% · District 69% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▲ 19 pts above state median · ▲ 16 pts above county median

Grade 440%

School 40% · District 68% · ▼ 28 pts below district

▼ 14 pts below state median · ▼ 14 pts below county median

Grade 559%

School 59% · District 64% · ▼ 5 pts below district

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

English language arts

Grade 325%

School 25% · District 57% · ▼ 32 pts below district

▼ 28 pts below state median · ▼ 29 pts below county median

Grade 440%

School 40% · District 55% · ▼ 15 pts below district

▼ 12 pts below state median · ▼ 12 pts below county median

Grade 559%

School 59% · District 51% · ▲ 8 pts above district

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

Science

Grade 440%

School 40% · District 59% · ▼ 19 pts below district

▼ 11 pts below state median · ▼ 12 pts below county median

Social studies

Grade 445%

School 45% · District 66% · ▼ 21 pts below district

▼ 20 pts below state median · ▼ 22 pts below county median

This schoolD C Everest Area 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-income17%Higher-income50%33 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 4Lower-income0%Higher-income57%57 pp gap