Summary
Willson Elementary is a PK–5 school serving 284 students in Baraboo, Wisconsin, part of the Baraboo School District. In 2025–2026 it ranked 386 of 1,039 Wisconsin schools (63rd percentile, 3 stars), which is notably stronger than its own district's standing of 282 of 432 (35th percentile, 2 stars). Willson has been a fairly steady 3-star school in recent years, with a brief 2-star dip in 2021–2022, and its best recent year was 2017–2018 at 272 of 1,025 (73rd percentile, 4 stars). Among current Baraboo elementary schools it is the highest ranked: East Elementary comes in at 495 of 1,039 and North Freedom Elementary at 570 of 1,039, while Al Behrman Elementary ranks 740 of 1,039.
In 2025–2026, Willson scored above both district and state averages in all eight listed Forward Exam areas. Fourth-grade social studies stood out at 77.55% proficient — 9.62 points above the district and 12.04 points above the state — followed by fourth-grade science at 61.22% and third-grade math at 62.22%. Willson also outperformed most nearby schools: it beat North Freedom Elementary in seven of the eight listed tests and East Elementary in six, and it topped Al Behrman Elementary in every area except third-grade ELA, where the two tied at 60%. Merrimac Community and Lewiston Elementary posted higher simple averages across those tests, but both are much smaller schools with different demographics. Because grade-level cohorts here are small, a single year's scores can swing quite a bit.
Chronic absenteeism was 13.1% in 2024–2025, better than the district's 19.5% and the state's 17.3%, though Lewiston (4.8%), Spring Hill Elementary (6.3%), North Freedom (8.7%) and several others had lower rates. Per-student spending was $15,233 with a student-teacher ratio of 11.7 — mid-range in spending, but favorable on class size compared with most neighbors. Subgroup results were uneven: male students ranked in the 76th percentile and special education students in the 68th, both improved from the previous year, while female students (50th percentile) and low-SES students (48th, down from the 70th percentile in 2023–2024) sat near the state median.
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