White Rock School, Waukesha WI - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on White Rock School

White Rock School is a regular public school in the Waukesha School District serving students from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade. It sits within the city of Waukesha, a mid-sized city and the county seat of Waukesha County, located roughly fifteen miles west of Milwaukee along the Fox River. The city blends a historic downtown with commercial corridors and industrial employment centers, and its public schools serve a broad cross-section of families across the city’s established residential neighborhoods.

The school is small for its grade band. Its enrollment draws a student body that is predominantly white, with a notable share of students who identify as Asian and a smaller share who identify as Hispanic. A very modest share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a figure that is well below what is common in many public school districts. Data on the share of students with individualized education plans or English-learner status was not available in the reporting.

On state assessments, White Rock School’s performance varies by grade and subject, but the overall picture is one of solid to strong academic results relative to the district’s peers. In English language arts, the school posted high proficiency rates across every tested grade, with all tested eighth graders meeting the proficiency bar. The lower elementary grades also showed strong results in reading and writing. In math, the pattern is more mixed. Proficiency rates in the middle elementary grades were lower than in the upper grades, with a clear upward trend as students moved through the school. By seventh grade, a substantial majority of students scored at or above proficiency in math, and eighth grade math results were very high. Science results were strong at both tested grade levels. In social studies, every student who was tested in both fourth and eighth grade met the proficiency standard, an unusual achievement. Overall, the school’s composite proficiency index across all tested subjects and grades sits above the midpoint among districts in Waukesha County, indicating performance that is solidly above the typical level for the county.

The school does not serve high school grades, so there is no graduation rate to report. Because it is a pre-K through eighth grade school, the usual measures of high school outcomes do not apply.

The Waukesha School District has been undergoing changes that affect the neighborhoods served by White Rock School. The district has approved and implemented a series of elementary school closures and consolidations in recent years, driven by budget constraints and declining enrollment. Most notably, Bethesda Elementary and Hawthorne Elementary are both scheduled to close in 2026, which will again shift attendance boundaries and reduce the number of nearby elementary options for families in some parts of the city. Additionally, the district is restructuring its middle school programming: Horning Middle School is transitioning into a STEM-focused school at the end of the 2025-2026 academic year, and Saratoga STEM Middle School is being sold at the end of that same year. These changes may affect the feeder patterns and program pathways for students coming out of White Rock School. A parent or resident considering this school may want to inquire directly with the district about how these consolidations and program shifts will affect White Rock’s attendance boundaries and the middle school options available to its graduates.

Housing values in the zip code that includes White Rock School are well above the national typical level and have been rising at a pace roughly in line with the national average over the past year. Rents have also increased notably. The county-level housing market shows a moderate supply of listings, with homes typically spending a little over a month on the market, suggesting a market that favors sellers but is not extremely tight. The broader economic context shows a national unemployment rate that is low by historical standards, and mortgage rates that are elevated, which shapes affordability for homebuyers.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 347%

School 47% · District 71% · ▼ 24 pts below district

▼ 10 pts below state median · ▼ 32 pts below county median

Grade 459%

School 59% · District 67% · ▼ 8 pts below district

▲ 5 pts above state median · ▼ 16 pts below county median

Grade 544%

School 44% · District 61% · ▼ 16 pts below district

▼ 7 pts below state median · ▼ 28 pts below county median

Grade 657%

School 57% · District 56% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 4 pts above state median · ▼ 21 pts below county median

Grade 773%

School 73% · District 65% · ▲ 8 pts above district

▲ 19 pts above state median · ▼ 8 pts below county median

Grade 890%

School 90% · District 55% · ▲ 35 pts above district

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

English language arts

Grade 373%

School 73% · District 61% · ▲ 13 pts above district

▲ 21 pts above state median · even with county median

Grade 482%

School 82% · District 62% · ▲ 19 pts above district

▲ 29 pts above state median · ▲ 10 pts above county median

Grade 574%

School 74% · District 59% · ▲ 15 pts above district

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

Grade 681%

School 81% · District 57% · ▲ 24 pts above district

▲ 28 pts above state median · ▲ 6 pts above county median

Grade 791%

School 91% · District 61% · ▲ 30 pts above district

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

Grade 8100%

School 100% · District 58% · ▲ 43 pts above district

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

Science

Grade 474%

School 74% · District 56% · ▲ 18 pts above district

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

Grade 890%

School 90% · District 52% · ▲ 38 pts above district

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

Social studies

Grade 4100%

School 100% · District 72% · ▲ 28 pts above district

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

Grade 8100%

School 100% · District 60% · ▲ 40 pts above district

▲ 36 pts above state median · ▲ 19 pts above 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.