Turtle Lake Elementary, Turtle Lake WI

Original Research by School Decision on Turtle Lake Elementary

Turtle Lake Elementary serves students from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade in a single small school for the Turtle Lake School District. It is a regular public school, not a charter, and sits in the village of Turtle Lake in western Wisconsin, straddling Barron and Polk counties. The school is the only elementary in a district that runs a combined K-12 campus, so children who start here typically continue at the same site through their senior year.

The student body is small for an elementary school and predominantly white, with a measurable share of Hispanic students and a smaller number of students who identify as two or more races, plus a handful of American Indian students. About half of the students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a rate that places the school in a middle range nationally for economic need. The school does not report data on students with disabilities or English learners, so a parent may want to ask the district directly for those numbers to get the full picture of supports available.

On state assessments, results vary noticeably by grade and subject. Fourth and fifth graders showed stronger proficiency in reading and writing than third graders did, and the same pattern appeared in math, where third grade proficiency was weaker than fourth and fifth. Across all tested grades and subjects combined, the school’s overall proficiency index landed above the midpoint when compared to other districts in Barron County, placing it in the upper half of the county’s nine districts. Social studies was a relative standout, with fourth graders performing especially well. Science results for fourth graders were solid as well. Participation rates on all tests were complete, meaning nearly every enrolled student sat for the exams, which gives the results a full picture. Because the school stops at fifth grade, there is no graduation rate to report, nor any data on chronic absenteeism or discipline.

The school does not offer high-school-level programs, AP courses, or career-technical pathways by design, since its grade band is early elementary. The curriculum is a general elementary program that feeds into Turtle Lake Middle and High School. No information was available about specific enrichment offerings, staffing ratios, or class sizes, so families should confirm those details with the school directly.

The village of Turtle Lake is small, rural, and slightly shrinking in population. Its built environment is low density, with a commercial core where US Highways 8 and 63 meet. The St. Croix Casino Turtle Lake is a prominent employer and draws visitors from the wider region. The village website describes itself as having rural charm and a tight-knit community. Two multi-use recreational trails, the Cattail Trail and the Northern Railroad Trail, cross through the village, and the Turtle Lake Inter County Fair is a summer anchor event. Civic infrastructure includes a municipal building, a public library, and several parks. The school itself is located near the village center on Oak Street, close to those amenities.

Housing values in the area around the school are moderately below the state average, though the national market has been rising. The local unemployment rate is close to the national average, and median household incomes are in line with the national figure. No major residential developments or growth projects were identified in publicly available sources, consistent with a stable or gently declining small town.

The district itself did not have any notable recent changes, referendums, or curriculum overhauls reported in the sources reviewed. That means families considering Turtle Lake Elementary should expect a steady, traditional rural school environment without major transitions or disruptions on the horizon. The school’s academic profile is broadly in the middle to upper middle of its county, with some grades performing better than others. A parent may want to look into the third-grade reading and math scores more closely to understand whether those early years receive targeted support, especially since outcomes in the later elementary grades appear stronger. For families who value a small, community-anchored elementary school in a rural setting where most students stay in the same district through high school, Turtle Lake Elementary is a straightforward fit.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 344%

School 44% · District 43% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▼ 12 pts below state median · ▼ 4 pts below county median

Grade 450%

School 50% · District 50%

▼ 4 pts below state median · even with county median

Grade 567%

School 67% · District 65% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▲ 16 pts above state median

English language arts

Grade 337%

School 37% · District 36% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▼ 16 pts below state median · ▼ 16 pts below county median

Grade 456%

School 56% · District 56%

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

Grade 558%

School 58% · District 57% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▲ 8 pts above state median

Science

Grade 459%

School 59% · District 59%

▲ 7 pts above state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

Social studies

Grade 477%

School 77% · District 77%

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

This schoolTurtle Lake 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-income21%Higher-income54%33 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income33%Higher-income74%40 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income54%Higher-income61%7 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income43%Higher-income50%7 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income22%Higher-income43%21 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income46%Higher-income29%17 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income14%Higher-income77%63 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income40%Higher-income58%18 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income69%Higher-income65%4 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income43%Higher-income64%21 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income11%Higher-income48%37 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income27%Higher-income36%8 pp gap