The top reported proficiency rate is 70% in Social studies. The lowest is 52% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Sunrise Elementary
Sunrise Elementary serves third through fifth grade in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, and is part of the Sturgeon Bay School District. As the upper elementary building for the district, it takes students from the district's K–2 school, Sawyer Elementary, and feeds into T.J. Walker Middle School. It is a regular public school; while its Title I status is not reported, more than half of its students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a threshold that often triggers targeted federal support. Enrollment is evenly balanced across the three grades.
The student body is predominantly white, with a substantial Hispanic presence and a notable share of students who identify as two or more races. Counts for Asian and Black students are very small. The school reports no data on the share of students with individualized education plans or English learner status, so a parent looking into special education services or language supports would want to ask the school directly about those offerings and staffing.
On state assessments, performance varies by grade and subject. In math, fourth graders had the strongest results, while third and fifth graders showed lower proficiency. In English language arts, fourth graders again outperformed their peers in third and fifth grades; fifth-grade ELA proficiency stood out as the weakest area across all tested subjects at the school. Fourth-grade science and social studies results were stronger. Taken together, the school’s overall proficiency across all tested subjects and grades places it in the bottom quarter of Door County districts, a comparison that reflects the full range of schools in the county. The pattern suggests that the school may have particular strength in fourth grade, but parents should be aware that results in other grades, especially fifth-grade reading, are softer.
The district recently completed large-scale renovations at all its buildings, including Sunrise Elementary, funded by a capital referendum, so the physical learning environment is modernized. The district also offers an elementary STEAM program and an Allied Arts program for eighth graders, which may influence how a family thinks about the arc from Sunrise through middle school. Course-access data for Sunrise itself was not available, so details on any enrichment or intervention programs at this building specifically are not captured here.
Sturgeon Bay itself is the county seat of Door County, a city with a working port, shipbuilding industry, and a tourism economy centered on the Door Peninsula. Its downtown on Third Avenue is walkable and has shops, restaurants, a professional theater, and a maritime museum. Beyond the downtown core the city is more auto-oriented. Housing values in the area sit somewhat above the national median, and recent mortgage rates have been typical for the national market. The city’s population has been relatively stable in recent decades, and the district’s renovation investment suggests a community committed to its public schools.
For a family considering this school, key points are the variation in academic results across grade levels, the lack of publicly available data on special education and English learner populations, and the overall proficiency standing relative to other Door County districts. The district’s recent facility upgrades and expanded programming signal administrative attention to the student experience, but the test data itself is mixed and warrants a direct conversation with the school about how it supports students in the grades where performance dips.
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