Williams Bay Elementary, Williams Bay WI

Original Research by School Decision on Williams Bay Elementary

Williams Bay Elementary serves children from prekindergarten through fifth grade as a regular public school within the Williams Bay School District. The school sits in a small lakefront village on Geneva Lake, a place where the population nearly doubles in summer with seasonal residents and tourists. The village’s historic role as a vacation destination for Chicagoans, its lake path, and its summer camps shape a community life that is both tight-knit and seasonally active.

Academically, the school posts results that place it comfortably above most of its peers in Walworth County. Across the state assessments for math and reading in grades three through five, the share of students scoring proficient or above sits at levels that, when averaged across all tested subjects and grades, land this school in the top quarter relative to districts in the county. That is a clear strength for a school of this size. In math, proficiency runs from roughly seven in ten third graders up to nearly eight in ten fifth graders. In English language arts, the pattern is a bit more varied: about two-thirds of third graders and fifth graders meet the bar, while closer to three-quarters of fourth graders do. Science, tested only in fourth grade, shows just over half of students reaching proficiency, a softer spot that a parent may want to follow up on with the school. Social studies, also tested in fourth grade, shows a strong result, with around four in five students proficient. The school had full participation on all assessments, which adds reliability to the picture.

The student body is predominantly white, with a small Hispanic share and even smaller numbers of Black, Asian, and multiracial students. About a quarter of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a modest share that places the school in a relatively lower-poverty context compared to many public elementary schools nationally. The enrollment is small for its grade band, giving the school a scale where individual attention is more feasible. Neither special education nor English learner counts were available in the data, so a parent should ask the school directly about those supports.

The village of Williams Bay offers a distinct environment. There is no public transit; the built environment is compact, with the central business district along Highway 67. Parks, a beach, a nature conservancy, and the lake path provide outdoor amenities. The village is growing slowly, and housing values are well above the national median, reflecting the lakefront appeal and the area’s desirability for both primary and second homes. That context means the school draws from a community with relatively high housing costs, which often correlates with a stable tax base and active parent engagement.

The district recently won voter approval for an operational referendum that funds low class sizes, program protection, and competitive staff compensation. For a family considering this school, that signals community investment and district-level stability. Because the school covers only elementary grades, there is no graduation rate to consider. Students feed into Williams Bay High School within the same district.

Overall, Williams Bay Elementary presents itself as a small, academically solid elementary school in a pleasant lakefront village, with a homogenous student body and above-average performance on state tests relative to its county. The soft spot in fourth-grade science is worth a conversation, but the overall proficiency picture is encouraging. The combination of a supportive community referendum, a small school setting, and top-quartile county positioning makes this a school that fits a family seeking a stable, modest-sized elementary experience with demonstrated academic outcomes.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 369%

School 69% · District 69%

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

Grade 470%

School 70% · District 70%

▲ 16 pts above state median · ▲ 8 pts above county median

Grade 579%

School 79% · District 79%

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

English language arts

Grade 367%

School 67% · District 67%

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

Grade 473%

School 73% · District 73%

▲ 21 pts above state median · ▲ 21 pts above county median

Grade 567%

School 67% · District 67%

▲ 16 pts above state median · ▲ 8 pts above county median

Science

Grade 454%

School 54% · District 54%

▲ 3 pts above state median · ▲ 4 pts above county median

Social studies

Grade 481%

School 81% · District 81%

▲ 16 pts above state median · ▲ 11 pts above county median

This schoolWilliams Bay 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-income64%Higher-income68%4 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income44%Higher-income82%38 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income63%Higher-income68%5 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income64%Higher-income71%8 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income67%Higher-income71%5 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income50%Higher-income85%35 pp gap