Core Knowledge Charter School, Verona WI

Original Research by School Decision on Core Knowledge Charter School

Core Knowledge Charter School is a K-8 charter school within the Verona Area School District, serving about that size of student body for a single-grade-band school in a fast-growing suburban community. It is a regular public school operated under charter status, which typically means it has some flexibility in curriculum and governance while remaining part of the district. The school is located in Verona, a city roughly ten miles southwest of downtown Madison that has seen steady population growth, driven heavily by the presence of Epic Systems Corporation, a major medical-software employer headquartered there. Verona incorporates a traditional Main Street corridor, a Prairie School–style public library opened in a recent decade, and recreational trails including the Sugar River State Trail. The housing market reflects the area’s affluence: home values and rents are well above state and national benchmarks, and a substantial share of households are high-income professionals. The school itself sits on Richard Street, off the commercial core.

Academically, Core Knowledge Charter School performs at a strong level. On Wisconsin’s Forward assessments, proficiency rates across mathematics, English language arts, science, and social studies are consistently high for every tested grade from 3 through 8. The school’s overall proficiency index places it in the top quartile relative to districts in Dane County, a competitive field that includes many well-regarded suburban and urban districts. In math, most grade levels show a large majority of students scoring proficient or above, with one grade’s rate a bit lower and another grade’s rate reaching a very high share. ELA results follow a similar pattern: strong across the board, with a couple of grades in an especially strong range and all others well above the county median. Science and social studies, tested only in grades 4 and 8, also show solid results, with social studies at both levels particularly high. Participation rates on state tests are near total, so the results reflect nearly all enrolled students. Because the school ends at grade 8, there is no graduation rate to report, and no chronic absenteeism data was available for comparison.

The student body is predominantly white, with smaller Asian, Hispanic, Black, and multiracial groups. The share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch is low, which aligns with Verona’s overall economic profile. Data on students with disabilities or English learners was not reported, so families with children in those categories may want to ask the school directly about support structures. The school has a moderate enrollment, with a relatively even distribution across grade levels, typical of a charter school that draws from a defined attendance area or through a lottery. No course access or staffing data was provided, nor details on discipline or program offerings, so specifics on electives, special education staffing, or extracurriculars are not available from this source.

The Verona Area School District, which oversees all public schools in the city including Core Knowledge, did not have any publicly reported recent changes of lasting impact identified in this search. The district office is at a Main Street address, and the district’s schools are spread across separate campuses throughout Verona rather than clustered downtown. For a family considering Core Knowledge Charter School, the academic picture is clear: consistently above-average state test performance, a supportive demographic context, and a K-8 structure that eliminates the need for a middle school transition within the same building. The charter model may offer a distinctive approach—the school’s name references a specific content-rich curriculum framework—though no curriculum details were available in the data to confirm. The peer environment is academically oriented, and the housing market is expensive, so families relocating for the school should factor that into their planning. Parents looking for a strong elementary and middle school pathway within a growing, well-resourced suburban community will find a track record that lines up with that aim.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 373%

School 73% · District 59% · ▲ 14 pts above district

▲ 16 pts above state median · ▲ 14 pts above county median

Grade 482%

School 82% · District 65% · ▲ 17 pts above district

▲ 28 pts above state median · ▲ 25 pts above county median

Grade 565%

School 65% · District 59% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▲ 13 pts above state median · ▲ 7 pts above county median

Grade 683%

School 83% · District 63% · ▲ 20 pts above district

▲ 30 pts above state median · ▲ 25 pts above county median

Grade 787%

School 87% · District 68% · ▲ 18 pts above district

▲ 33 pts above state median · ▲ 25 pts above county median

Grade 876%

School 76% · District 54% · ▲ 21 pts above district

▲ 24 pts above state median · ▲ 21 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 361%

School 61% · District 58% · ▲ 3 pts above district

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

Grade 476%

School 76% · District 66% · ▲ 10 pts above district

▲ 23 pts above state median · ▲ 18 pts above county median

Grade 563%

School 63% · District 61% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▲ 12 pts above state median · ▲ 9 pts above county median

Grade 674%

School 74% · District 64% · ▲ 10 pts above district

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

Grade 783%

School 83% · District 70% · ▲ 13 pts above district

▲ 31 pts above state median · ▲ 26 pts above county median

Grade 876%

School 76% · District 61% · ▲ 15 pts above district

▲ 23 pts above state median · ▲ 17 pts above county median

Science

Grade 471%

School 71% · District 59% · ▲ 12 pts above district

▲ 20 pts above state median · ▲ 14 pts above county median

Grade 872%

School 72% · District 54% · ▲ 18 pts above district

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

Social studies

Grade 482%

School 82% · District 74% · ▲ 9 pts above district

▲ 17 pts above state median · ▲ 13 pts above county median

Grade 889%

School 89% · District 70% · ▲ 19 pts above district

▲ 25 pts above state median · ▲ 20 pts above county median

This schoolVerona 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-income67%Higher-income77%10 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income50%Higher-income87%37 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income67%Higher-income77%10 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 4Lower-income67%Higher-income85%18 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income83%Higher-income87%4 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income50%Higher-income79%29 pp gap