The top reported proficiency rate is 55% in Social studies. The lowest is 39% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Woodside Elementary
Woodside Elementary is a regular public school in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin, serving students from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade. It is part of the Wisconsin Rapids School District, a mid-sized district in Wood County. The school sits in a small city that has been reshaped by the loss of its historic paper-mill anchor and is now working to diversify its economy around healthcare, food processing, and the educational software company Renaissance Learning, which is headquartered locally. The city’s population has been declining, and the shuttered mill remains a significant economic reality for families considering this community.
Academically, Woodside Elementary’s state assessment results place it in the bottom quartile of proficiency among elementary schools in Wood County, when measured by the mean of its reported proficiency rates across tested subjects and grades. The school participates in Wisconsin’s Forward Exam, and the 2024-25 results show a mixed picture across grade levels and subjects. In math, the share of students scoring proficient or above rises steadily from third to fifth grade, with the strongest performance in fifth grade. In English language arts, a similar upward trend appears, with the fifth-grade cohort performing above the school’s third-grade group. Science, tested only in fourth grade, shows a higher proficiency rate than math or ELA in that same grade, and social studies, also fourth grade, posts the highest single-subject result for the school. While these numbers indicate a positive grade-level trajectory, the overall proficiency across all tested subjects and grades is well below the midpoint of the county’s district-level distribution. Parents should be aware that this is a school where a majority of students score below the proficient threshold in reading and math, a pattern that may warrant further inquiry with the school about its instructional strategies and intervention supports.
Because the school serves only elementary grades, there is no graduation rate to report. The state testing data show full participation, meaning virtually every enrolled student took the assessments.
The student body is predominantly white, with smaller shares of Hispanic, Asian, and two-or-more-race students, and very small numbers of Black and American Indian students. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating a moderate level of economic need among families. Data on students with disabilities and English learners were not available in the dataset; a parent may want to ask the school directly about those populations and the services provided.
The school’s location on Two Mile Avenue places it in a residential part of Wisconsin Rapids. The city itself has a compact downtown on the east side of the Wisconsin River, riverfront parks, a public library, a municipal zoo, and a new aquatic center that opened in recent years. Housing values in the zip code are below the state and national benchmarks, and rents are moderate, making this a relatively affordable market for families. The local economy has shifted away from paper manufacturing, and major employers now include healthcare systems, food processors, and Renaissance Learning. Dial-a-ride transit serves the area, but most daily errands and school commutes likely rely on personal vehicles.
The district brief turned up no recent parent-relevant changes to report, so parents should rely on direct outreach to the school or district office for current information about programs, class size, or any upcoming adjustments. No program-specific offerings were listed in the data, so a family interested in specialized enrichment, gifted services, or extracurricular options for young children would need to verify availability.
In short, Woodside Elementary is a neighborhood elementary school in a city facing economic headwinds, with academic results that are modest relative to other schools in Wood County. It serves a largely white, lower-to-middle-income population and offers the standard elementary curriculum for its grade span. Families considering the school may want to explore what academic supports are in place for students who are not yet meeting proficiency benchmarks and what enrichment opportunities exist, as those details were not captured in the available data.
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