The top reported proficiency rate is 53% in Social studies. The lowest is 37% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Grant Elementary
Grant Elementary is a regular public school serving pre-kindergarten through fifth grade in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, part of the Sheboygan Area School District. The school sits within the district’s network of multiple elementary schools distributed across the city, so families typically attend by neighborhood assignment. Sheboygan itself is a mid-sized Lake Michigan port city with a manufacturing and lakefront heritage, known for its German-American and Hmong-American communities. The housing market in the area has seen modest appreciation, and the city has invested in riverfront and lakefront amenities including a marina, resort, and arts centers.
On state assessments administered through Wisconsin’s Forward exam, Grant Elementary’s results present a mixed picture across subjects and grade levels. In math, third graders performed the strongest, with roughly half of students meeting the state’s proficiency benchmark. Fourth-grade math proficiency was somewhat lower, and fifth-grade math results were the weakest of the three tested grades. In English language arts, fourth graders had the highest proficiency rate, followed closely by third graders, while fifth graders again showed the lowest performance. Science and social studies are tested only in fourth grade; in those subjects, about a third of students were proficient in science and about half in social studies. When the school’s overall proficiency across all tested subjects and grades is combined, Grant Elementary ranks in the bottom quarter of all school districts in Sheboygan County. That is a soft spot a parent may want to explore further with the school, particularly to understand how the school supports students who struggle.
The school’s student body is economically diverse, with a substantial share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. Racially and ethnically, the enrollment includes a significant number of white students, alongside notable populations of Asian, Hispanic, and multiracial students; Black and Native American students make up much smaller shares. Data on the share of students with disabilities and English learners was not available in the materials reviewed. The school serves only elementary grades, so there is no graduation rate to report, a natural gap given the grade band.
A district-level change that directly affects Grant Elementary is the implementation of Wisconsin Act 20, a state law requiring science-based early literacy instruction. The Sheboygan Area School District has adopted new reading curriculum materials for elementary grades, screens students in pre-kindergarten through third grade for reading difficulties, and provides interventions aligned with the science of reading. For a parent of a young child at Grant, this means the approach to teaching reading has fundamentally shifted starting in the 2024-25 school year, with a stronger emphasis on phonics and structured literacy.
Another district context worth noting is that overall enrollment in the Sheboygan Area School District has been declining over recent years, a trend that influences class sizes, staffing, and program offerings. How that affects Grant Elementary specifically is not detailed in the available information, but it is part of the larger picture families should consider when looking at long-term school stability.
Sheboygan’s civic amenities include a lakefront park, a contemporary arts center, a performing arts theater, and a children’s museum. The city has a traditional downtown grid and a moderate walkability level concentrated near the lakefront, while most residential areas are car-dependent. Major employers in the region include manufacturing and food companies such as Johnsonville Sausage and Kohler, as well as the school district itself.
For families considering Grant Elementary, the school offers a neighborhood elementary experience with the recent shift to science-based reading instruction as a notable academic initiative. The academic performance data points to areas where the school is working to improve, particularly in upper elementary grades. The student body reflects the ethnic and economic diversity of Sheboygan. The broader district is navigating enrollment decline, which may affect resources. A parent would want to visit, talk with the principal about how the school addresses the proficiency gaps in fifth-grade math and reading, and see how the new literacy curriculum is taking hold in the early grades.
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