Black Hawk Elementary

Black Hawk Elementary is a small PK–5 school serving 163 students in the rural village of South Wayne, Wisconsin (population roughly 480), and it is the only elementary building in the Black Hawk School District.

By state measures, the school is strong and steady. It ranks 234th of 1,039 Wisconsin elementary schools — the 77th percentile — with a 4-star rating, and it has stayed at or above the 75th percentile for four straight years, a big climb from the 44th percentile in 2020–2021. Test scores beat state averages in nearly every subject and grade, with fourth grade the standout: more than 22 points above the state in English/language arts and nearly 30 points above in math. The school's most durable strength is how well it serves low-income students, whose results ranked at the 90th percentile statewide in two of the past three years in a building where about 47% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. Chronic absenteeism is 8.6%, about half Wisconsin's 17.3%. Classes are small at 10.0 to 1, and per-student spending is $16,206, mid-range for the area.

Among nearby schools, Black Hawk ranks second of nine in achievement percentile, behind only Argyle Elementary, which serves a smaller low-income population, and it outperforms the larger Monroe district elementaries — Northside Elementary, Parkside Elementary and Abraham Lincoln Elementary — while spending less per student than Argyle. One caveat: with roughly 17–26 students per grade, a single child can move a grade-level percentage by nearly 6 points, so individual grade results swing widely from year to year, and third-grade ELA (52%) sits right at the state average. Also note that this 4-star school sits inside a 2-star district, so judge it on its own record.