Mill Creek Academy, Waukesha WI - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Mill Creek Academy

Mill Creek Academy is a tuition-free public charter school in Waukesha that opened in 2023, serving pre-kindergarten through fifth grade. Operated by National Heritage Academies, it creates its own independent charter school district—a single-building district that offers families an alternative to the larger Waukesha School District. The school is small and its grade band means no graduation rate exists to evaluate.

Waukesha is a mid-sized city and the county seat of Waukesha County, located west of Milwaukee along the Fox River. It blends a historic downtown with a strong manufacturing and healthcare employer base. The city has grown modestly in recent years and completed a major water infrastructure project in 2024. Home values in the area are above the national typical figure, reflecting a relatively high-cost market. The school does not provide busing, so families must arrange transportation themselves.

The academic picture from the most recent state assessments shows a pattern worth examining carefully. Third graders posted strong proficiency rates in both math and English language arts, with a very high share meeting state benchmarks. That strength does not carry into the upper grades. By fourth grade, the share of students reaching proficiency in math fell substantially, and by fifth and sixth grades it was below half. English language arts followed a similar downward slope, with fourth through sixth graders showing lower proficiency than third graders. Fourth-grade science and social studies results both came in at moderate levels, with about half of students reaching proficiency in social studies and a lower share in science. Across all tested subjects and grades, the school’s overall proficiency index placed it in the bottom quarter among school districts in Waukesha County.

These results raise a question a parent may want to explore further with the school: whether the strong third-grade showing reflects a solid early foundation that later instruction does not sustain, or whether the small student groups in each grade make year-to-year comparisons less stable. The school is new, so multi-year trends are not yet available to help answer that.

The student body draws from across Waukesha and the surrounding area, with a substantial share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price meals. The enrollment is predominantly white, with a notable presence of students identifying as two or more races and smaller shares of Black, Hispanic, and Asian students. English learner and special education counts were not reported in the available data.

As a charter school within the National Heritage Academies network, Mill Creek Academy uses that organization’s Moral Focus curriculum, which integrates character development into academics. The school’s small size means class groups are modest, and it operates as a standalone entity rather than part of a larger district with multiple school buildings. For families considering this option, the lack of transportation and the need to commit to the school’s particular instructional approach are practical factors to weigh alongside the academic results.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 392%

School 92% · District 92%

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

Grade 456%

School 56% · District 56%

▲ 1 pts above state median · ▼ 20 pts below county median

Grade 544%

School 44% · District 44%

▼ 8 pts below state median · ▼ 29 pts below county median

Grade 630%

School 30% · District 30%

▼ 23 pts below state median · ▼ 47 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 375%

School 75% · District 75%

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

Grade 450%

School 50% · District 50%

▼ 2 pts below state median · ▼ 22 pts below county median

Grade 548%

School 48% · District 48%

▼ 3 pts below state median · ▼ 24 pts below county median

Grade 639%

School 39% · District 39%

▼ 14 pts below state median · ▼ 36 pts below county median

Science

Grade 439%

School 39% · District 39%

▼ 13 pts below state median · ▼ 29 pts below county median

Social studies

Grade 456%

School 56% · District 56%

▼ 9 pts below state median · ▼ 26 pts below county median

This schoolMill Creek Academy Inc, 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-income67%Higher-income80%13 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income40%Higher-income63%23 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income40%Higher-income54%14 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income89%Higher-income93%4 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income50%Higher-income63%13 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income30%Higher-income54%24 pp gap