Summit View Elementary, Waukesha WI

Original Research by School Decision on Summit View Elementary

Summit View Elementary, a regular public school serving pre-kindergarten through fifth grade, is part of the Waukesha School District in Waukesha, Wisconsin. For a family considering this school, the core picture is one of solid academic performance in a stable, mid-sized suburban elementary setting, set within a district that is actively reshaping its footprint through school closures and program shifts.

On state assessments, Summit View’s students post proficiency rates that are a clear strength. In mathematics, a very large majority of third graders meet or exceed the state standard, and a strong majority of fourth and fifth graders do as well. In English language arts, roughly two-thirds of students in grades three through five demonstrate proficiency, with the highest share at the fourth-grade level. Fourth graders also show a strong performance in social studies, and about two-thirds are proficient in science. Across all tested subjects and grades, the school’s overall proficiency index sits below the midpoint among districts in Waukesha County, meaning that while the school’s results are solid on their own, several other schools in the county post higher composite scores.

The student body is predominantly white, with a notable share of students who identify as two or more races, followed by smaller groups of Hispanic, Black, and Asian students. About a third of the students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which for an elementary school in the region signals a moderate level of economic diversity. The school serves a mid-sized elementary enrollment for the area, spread fairly evenly across kindergarten through fourth grade, with slightly smaller groups in pre-kindergarten and fifth grade.

Waukesha itself is a mid-sized city and the county seat, located a short distance west of Milwaukee along the Fox River. It blends a historic downtown with a farmer's market, a riverwalk, and festivals, with suburban-style residential neighborhoods beyond the core. The employer base is heavily oriented toward manufacturing and healthcare, with GE Healthcare and Waukesha Memorial Hospital as leading employers, and the school district itself is a major employer. Housing values in the area are above the state benchmark, and the market has seen modest price growth. The city has an award-winning park system and provides local bus transit through the Waukesha Metro Transit.

For the school district, the recent history includes several significant changes. The school board approved closing Whittier Elementary and merging it with Hadfield Elementary in 2022, driven by a budget shortfall. Bethesda Elementary and Hawthorne Elementary are both scheduled to close in 2026, which will again redraw attendance boundaries and reduce the number of neighborhood elementary schools. At the middle school level, Horning Middle School is transforming into a STEM school at the end of the 2025-2026 academic year, and Saratoga STEM Middle School is being sold at that same time, restructuring the district’s STEM pathway options.

Summit View Elementary sits within this context of district-level consolidation. For a parent, the school offers consistent academic results, particularly strong in early-grade math, within a standard elementary setting. The proficiency gaps across grades and subjects are modest, and the school’s performance, while not at the top of the county, is broadly dependable. A family moving into the area should be aware that the district’s active closure and program shifts mean that the elementary school landscape and the pathways to middle school are not static.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 387%

School 87% · District 71% · ▲ 16 pts above district

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

Grade 473%

School 73% · District 67% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▲ 19 pts above state median · ▼ 2 pts below county median

Grade 570%

School 70% · District 61% · ▲ 9 pts above district

▲ 19 pts above state median · ▼ 2 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 370%

School 70% · District 61% · ▲ 9 pts above district

▲ 17 pts above state median · ▼ 3 pts below county median

Grade 471%

School 71% · District 62% · ▲ 9 pts above district

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

Grade 563%

School 63% · District 59% · ▲ 4 pts above district

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

Science

Grade 465%

School 65% · District 56% · ▲ 9 pts above district

▲ 14 pts above state median · ▼ 2 pts below county median

Social studies

Grade 476%

School 76% · District 72% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▲ 11 pts above state median · ▼ 6 pts below county median

This schoolWaukesha 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-income58%Higher-income75%17 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income50%Higher-income79%29 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income52%Higher-income69%17 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income74%Higher-income93%20 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income59%Higher-income79%20 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income64%Higher-income73%9 pp gap