The top reported proficiency rate is 91% in Social studies. The lowest is 71% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Cumberland Elementary
Cumberland Elementary sits in the village of Whitefish Bay, a Lake Michigan shoreline suburb north of Milwaukee. The village was built as a streetcar suburb in the early 20th century, and its dense, grid-oriented residential fabric makes it a walkable community with Silver Spring Drive as the primary commercial corridor. Whitefish Bay is essentially built out at its small geographic size, with no room for geographic expansion, and its population has slowly declined from a mid-century peak. The village incorporated specifically to form an independent school district, and that legacy is visible today: four public schools operate within the village, and the district has been part of the community’s identity for more than a century. Private schools are also present, including Holy Family, St. Monica, Dominican High School, Milwaukee Jewish Day School, and Hillel Academy. Civic anchors include Old Schoolhouse Park, the public library, the Lake Michigan shoreline, and the Lydell community recreation facility. Housing values and rents in the village are well above state and national benchmarks, and the market has been appreciating.
Cumberland is one of two elementary schools in the district, serving pre-kindergarten through fifth grade. Its enrollment is small for a K-5 school, and the student body is predominantly white, with Asian, black, Hispanic, and multiracial students each making up a much smaller share. A very small share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. Data on special education and English learner populations was not reported in the source material.
On the Wisconsin Forward exams, Cumberland’s proficiency rates across tested grades and subjects are strong. In English language arts, performance is above the state average across all three tested grades, with a large majority of students scoring at proficient or advanced levels. Math results also show strong outcomes, with the large majority of students meeting proficiency in each tested grade. Science proficiency in fourth grade is lower than the school’s own ELA and math results, though it remains above state averages. Social studies in fourth grade is a particular strength, with nearly all students scoring proficient or above. Participation rates on all assessments are essentially universal. When compared to other districts across Milwaukee County, Cumberland places in the top quartile on overall proficiency across the subjects and grades it tests. This is a school with consistently high academic performance.
There is no graduation rate to report because Cumberland serves only elementary grades. The school does not offer advanced coursework or career pathways, as those lie at the secondary level. Discipline data, staffing ratios, and attendance metrics were not available in the source material.
The district itself, from publicly available information, does not appear to have undergone major recent changes such as referenda, curriculum overhauls, or facility projects that would shift a parent’s understanding of the current landscape. Whitefish Bay is a stable, built-out community with a long-established school system, and Cumberland functions as a neighborhood elementary school within that system.
For a family considering this school, the picture is straightforward. This is a high-performing elementary school in an affluent, dense North Shore suburb where housing costs are elevated. The student body has limited economic diversity as measured by free lunch eligibility. The school’s academic results are consistently strong, and there is no evidence of significant churn or disruption at the district level. A parent who values a small-by-enrollment elementary with strong test results in a walkable village setting would find this a natural fit. A parent who is looking for a more economically diverse student body or a school with a broader range of programs may want to look into this further with the school to understand what enrichment and support offerings are available at the elementary level.
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