Best Public Schools in Fort Atkinson, WI

Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin has six public schools in the Fort Atkinson School District — four elementary, one middle, and one high school serving about 2,163 students in grades K–12. The district is ranked 112th of 432 Wisconsin districts, at the 74th percentile with 4 stars. Fort Atkinson High is the largest with 816 students (grades 9–12), followed by Fort Atkinson Middle with 467 (grades 6–8). The elementary schools are Luther Elementary (238), Purdy Elementary (233), Barrie Elementary (212), and Rockwell Elementary (197).

Luther Elementary is the biggest riser and strongest current elementary profile: its statewide percentile climbed from 63 in 2023-24 to 80 in 2024-25 to 89 in 2025-26, with a 2025-26 rank of 119 of 1,039 and 4 stars. Its 2025-26 unweighted test average is 74.65, the highest, and its chronic absenteeism is just 0.8%. Barrie Elementary also improved sharply, from 57 to 69 to 84 percentile, with a 71.12 test average. Fort Atkinson Middle is the most consistent academic performer: 72nd, 74th, and 77th percentile over three years, 4 stars each year, and above the state in all 2025-26 tests; 7th-grade ELA is 79.45% vs. the state’s 55.33%, and 7th-grade math is 77.55% vs. 55.67%.

Rockwell Elementary was the highest-flying elementary — 86 of 1,044, 92nd percentile, 5 stars, 76.52 average — but cooled to 235 of 1,039, 77th percentile, 4 stars, and 68.22 in 2025-26. Purdy Elementary is the clearest concern: its percentile fell from 75 to 56 to 53, with 3 stars in 2024-25 and 2025-26 and the lowest 2025-26 average at 57.26; 4th-grade math is 38.89%, below the district’s 68.39% and the state’s 52.87%, despite the highest per-student spending ($21,864). Fort Atkinson High has mixed academics — science is above the state, ELA is near it, but math and social studies lag — and its rank moved from 74th percentile/4 stars to 42nd/2 stars to 53rd/3 stars; graduation is 93.5% vs. 92.0% state, and dropout is 0.2% vs. 1.1% state. Chronic absenteeism is a district-wide strength: every school is below the state’s 17.3%, with Luther Elementary at 0.8% and Rockwell Elementary at 1.5%.