The top reported proficiency rate is 58% in Social studies. The lowest is 38% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Lowell Elementary
Lowell Elementary serves students from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade within the Waukesha School District. It is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet. The school is located in the city of Waukesha, the county seat of Waukesha County, a mid-sized city that sits roughly fifteen miles west of Milwaukee along the Fox River. Waukesha blends a historic downtown with manufacturing employment and residential neighborhoods. Publicly reported sources describe the city as having a mix of established neighborhoods, an award-winning park system, and a downtown that features a Riverwalk, farmer's market, and festivals.
Lowell Elementary is a neighborhood school set on the western side of the city, and its enrollment is moderate for an elementary school serving this grade band. The student body is majority white, with a substantial Hispanic population and smaller shares of Black students and students identifying as two or more races. A majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which places the school in a higher-need category relative to many other schools in Waukesha County.
On the Wisconsin Forward Exam, students at Lowell showed a varied picture. In math, proficiency across the tested grades hovered in the middle range. Third graders posted a proficiency rate that was stronger than the fourth- and fifth-grade cohorts, both of which were below the third-grade mark. In English language arts, the pattern was similar: third-grade proficiency exceeded the fourth- and fifth-grade results, with all three grades finishing below the midpoint of what many families would consider a strong showing. In science, which is tested in fourth grade, proficiency was clearly lower than the math and ELA rates for that same grade. Social studies, tested in the same grade, was the school's strongest subject, with a proficiency rate that clearly exceeded all other tested areas.
The overall proficiency index, which averages results across subjects and grades, places Lowell in the bottom quartile among districts in Waukesha County for the 2024-25 school year. This comparison uses Waukesha County districts as the reference set, meaning Lowell's performance is lower than the median of its county peers. A parent should note that this is a district-level comparison; the school itself sits squarely in the lower half of the county's elementary-level academic context.
Because Lowell Elementary serves only kindergarten through fifth grade, there is no four-year graduation rate to report. That metric applies only to high schools. Chronic absenteeism data was also not available for this school, so there is no read on student attendance patterns.
The Waukesha School District, which oversees Lowell, is undergoing significant facilities changes that affect elementary families. The district has recently closed or scheduled the closure of several elementary schools. Whittier Elementary was closed and merged with Hadfield in 2022, citing budget shortfalls and declining enrollment. More recently, Bethesda Elementary and Hawthorne Elementary are both scheduled to close in 2026, which will again shift attendance boundaries and reduce the number of neighborhood elementary options. For families assigned to Lowell, these changes do not appear to affect Lowell directly in the short term, but the district's pattern of consolidation is worth noting for any parent trying to predict long-term stability.
Housing in the area is priced above the national median, with home values in the zip code reflecting a moderately expensive market for the Milwaukee region. Rents are similarly elevated. The city's economy is anchored by manufacturing and healthcare employers, including GE Healthcare and Waukesha Memorial Hospital, and the unemployment rate has been low. The city recently completed a major infrastructure project to bring Lake Michigan water to the community, which has raised water utility costs but resolved a groundwater quality issue. The broader community context is one of a stable, mid-sized city with ongoing adjustments in its public school footprint.
For a parent considering Lowell Elementary, the central takeaway is a school where a majority of students come from lower-income households, where academic proficiency is below the county median across most subjects, and where the strongest single result is in fourth-grade social studies rather than in math or reading. The school sits within a district that is actively consolidating elementary buildings and reshaping its middle school offerings, including converting one middle school to a STEM focus and selling another. This is not a school that posts top-tier test scores. It serves a diverse population in a city that has a working-class and middle-class mix, with a district that is in a period of structural change. A family moving to this attendance area should expect to engage with the school directly to understand classroom supports, particularly in math and reading, and to keep an eye on how the district's ongoing closures and programming shifts might affect Lowell in the years ahead.
See more original research from School Decision →