Summary:
The Westby Area School District in Wisconsin is home to two elementary schools, both serving grades PK–4: Westby Elementary with 277 students and Coon Valley Elementary with 125 students, for a combined enrollment of 402. The district ranks 136 of 432 Wisconsin districts (69th percentile, 3 stars), but its two elementary schools are on very different paths.
Coon Valley is the standout. It climbed from 1 star and the 23rd percentile in 2023–24 to 2 stars and 42nd percentile in 2024–25, then to 5 stars and the 91st percentile (98 of 1,039 schools) in 2025–26. In 2025–26 it outperformed Westby on all six reported Forward Exam tests, with gaps from +5.44 points in ELA Grade 4 to +35.41 points in ELA Grade 3, and scored above both the district and the state in every subject; its highest result was Social Studies Grade 4 at 88.89%. Westby has been steadier — 3 stars in 2023–24, then 2 stars in both 2024–25 and 2025–26 (46th percentile, 558 of 1,039). Westby's best 2025–26 results were ELA Grade 4 (72.34%) and Social Studies Grade 4 (70.21%), while its weakest were ELA Grade 3 (41.51%) and Mathematics Grade 4 (42.55%).
In 2024–25 the two schools were nearly even (simple test averages of 53.75% for Westby vs 52.02% for Coon Valley), and Westby was stronger in math. The 2025–26 split (55.71% vs 76.57%) reflects Coon Valley's sharp improvement more than a Westby decline. Coon Valley also has lower free/reduced lunch (23.2% vs 38.99%), a lower student-teacher ratio (10.3 vs 12.1), slightly higher per-student spending ($16,265 vs $15,983), and lower chronic absenteeism (12.7% vs 13.7%); both schools beat the district's 16.5% and the state's 17.3%. Because Coon Valley is small, grade-level results can swing widely from year to year.
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