Wheatland Center Elementary, Burlington WI

Original Research by School Decision on Wheatland Center Elementary

Wheatland Center Elementary is a regular public school serving prekindergarten through eighth grade in the Wheatland J1 School District, a single-school district located in Kenosha County, Wisconsin. The school sits just outside Burlington, a small city that positions itself midway between Milwaukee and Chicago, blending residential neighborhoods with an active commercial base. Burlington’s historic downtown is walkable, with a Riverwalk along the Fox River, and the city has invested in a new bypass to reduce traffic through its core. The city describes itself as gaining recognition as one of Wisconsin’s best kept secrets, and both the business parks and downtown are drawing young professionals and families. The school draws from this community, and for families living within the district boundaries, Wheatland Center is the sole public school option through eighth grade; after that, students must look to other districts for high school.

Academically, the school participates in Wisconsin’s Forward assessment for grades three through eight. Across math, English language arts, science, and social studies, proficiency rates vary by grade and subject, but a clear pattern emerges: upper-grade students tend to perform at higher levels than those in grades three through five. In math and ELA, the strongest results appear in grades six, seven, and eight, where roughly two-thirds to three-quarters of students meet the state’s proficiency bar. In the earlier grades, the share proficient is generally around half to just over half. Science and social studies are tested only in fourth and eighth grades; in both subjects the eighth-grade cohort reaches a similar range. Overall, the school’s composite proficiency index sits above the midpoint among districts in Kenosha County, indicating solid middle-tier performance relative to its neighbors.

Enrollment is moderate for a PK–8 building, with just over six hundred students spread across grades, and class sizes in the mid-sixties. The student body is predominantly white, with small shares of Hispanic and multiracial students. More than a third of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting a working- to middle-class community. Data on students with disabilities and English learners were not available from the source, so a parent may want to inquire about those supports directly.

Housing in the Burlington area carries a value above the Wisconsin state median, though it remains more affordable than many communities closer to Milwaukee or Chicago. The town has low vacancy rates and an active development outlook, with one business park expanding and a growing reputation as a destination for families. The district itself reported no recent parent-relevant changes or strategic initiatives in the publicly available material; the school appears to operate with stability but without recent visible program shifts.

The school offers no high school grades, so there is no graduation rate to report. Nor were any program offerings, Advanced Placement, career pathways, or extracurriculars provided in the data. A family considering Wheatland Center Elementary should weigh its steady, mid-level academic performance and the convenience of a single K–8 campus against the need to plan for high school placement elsewhere. For those who value a smaller, community-anchored school in a growing small city with decent highway access to larger metros, this is a straightforward option worth exploring in person.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 356%

School 56% · District 56%

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

Grade 453%

School 53% · District 53%

▼ 1 pts below state median · even with county median

Grade 552%

School 52% · District 52%

even with state median · ▲ 3 pts above county median

Grade 669%

School 69% · District 69%

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

Grade 772%

School 72% · District 72%

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

Grade 866%

School 66% · District 66%

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

English language arts

Grade 363%

School 63% · District 63%

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

Grade 455%

School 55% · District 55%

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

Grade 547%

School 47% · District 47%

▼ 4 pts below state median · ▼ 3 pts below county median

Grade 663%

School 63% · District 63%

▲ 10 pts above state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

Grade 776%

School 76% · District 76%

▲ 24 pts above state median · ▲ 22 pts above county median

Grade 864%

School 64% · District 64%

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

Science

Grade 452%

School 52% · District 52%

even with state median · ▲ 10 pts above county median

Grade 856%

School 56% · District 56%

▲ 5 pts above state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

Social studies

Grade 472%

School 72% · District 72%

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

Grade 861%

School 61% · District 61%

▼ 3 pts below state median · even with county median

This schoolWheatland J1 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-income46%Higher-income72%26 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income40%Higher-income68%28 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income32%Higher-income58%25 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income37%Higher-income74%38 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income70%Higher-income80%10 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income48%Higher-income77%29 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income35%Higher-income67%33 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income40%Higher-income65%25 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income21%Higher-income73%51 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income47%Higher-income79%32 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income74%Higher-income71%2 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income48%Higher-income79%31 pp gap