Tomahawk Elementary, Tomahawk WI

Original Research by School Decision on Tomahawk Elementary

Tomahawk Elementary serves students from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade in the small North Woods city of Tomahawk, Wisconsin, a place shaped by its logging origins and now anchored by manufacturing employers such as Harley-Davidson and Packaging Corporation of America. The school is part of the Tomahawk School District, which houses its three public schools on a shared complex that also offers a swimming pool, indoor track, and field house open to the community. The city sits at the confluence of the Somo, Tomahawk, and Wisconsin Rivers, forming Lake Mohawksin, and its population has been stable to slightly declining in recent decades, typical of many northern Wisconsin communities.

Enrollment at the school is moderate for its grade band, with classes spread across the elementary years. About half of the students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a reflection of the local economic context. The student body is predominantly white, with small shares of Hispanic, multiracial, and other backgrounds. Data on special education and English learner populations were not available in the sources reviewed.

The Wisconsin Forward assessment results offer a picture of academic performance that varies by grade and subject. In mathematics, the share of students meeting state standards climbs from third grade to fifth grade, with fifth grade showing a noticeably higher rate than third grade. English language arts follows a similar upward pattern across the same grades. Science and social studies are tested only in fourth grade; the social studies proficiency rate is solid, while the science rate is moderate. When the school’s overall proficiency across all tested subjects and grades is compared to other districts in Lincoln County, it lands in the top quartile of that group, a signal of relative strength in the local context. The lower third-grade scores in both math and reading are worth noting; a parent may want to discuss with the school how early intervention supports are structured, particularly for students entering at that level.

Because Tomahawk Elementary serves only elementary grades, there is no graduation rate, and the school’s grade band means the typical high school outcomes measures do not apply. No chronic absenteeism data or discipline figures were available. The school operates as a regular public school, not a charter or magnet, and no Title I status was listed.

Housing in the Tomahawk area is somewhat more affordable than the state average, consistent with a small city in a stable, lake-rich region. The broader community has a traditional downtown, annual events such as the Tomahawk Fall Ride and Pow-wow Days, and recreational access to the surrounding lakes and flowages. The school district’s brief showed no major recent changes or strategic initiatives that would alter the current trajectory.

For families considering Tomahawk Elementary, the school sits in a familiar small-town setting where the elementary experience builds across grades, and where the academic results relative to other districts in the county are favorable. The lower early-grade proficiency rates and the limited public data on student support programs are the main areas a prospective parent would want to explore further with the school itself.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 339%

School 39% · District 39%

▼ 17 pts below state median

Grade 468%

School 68% · District 68%

▲ 14 pts above state median

Grade 570%

School 70% · District 70%

▲ 19 pts above state median

English language arts

Grade 345%

School 45% · District 45%

▼ 8 pts below state median

Grade 456%

School 56% · District 56%

▲ 4 pts above state median

Grade 558%

School 58% · District 58%

▲ 7 pts above state median

Science

Grade 456%

School 56% · District 56%

▲ 5 pts above state median

Social studies

Grade 471%

School 71% · District 71%

▲ 6 pts above state median

This schoolTomahawk 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-income38%Higher-income53%15 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income47%Higher-income67%20 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income49%Higher-income68%20 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income33%Higher-income47%15 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income56%Higher-income83%28 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income64%Higher-income76%12 pp gap