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Taft Elementary

Public Grades K-4
863rd
SchoolDigger Rank ?
of 1,039 Wisconsin Elementary Schools
Better than 17% of Wisconsin elementary schools
Summary

Taft Elementary is a K–4 school in Neenah, WI, in the Neenah Joint School District, serving 179 students, making it smaller than most nearby elementary schools.

In 2025–2026, Taft Elementary ranked 863rd of 1,039 Wisconsin elementary schools—17th percentile, 1 star. That is a clear outlier in a district that ranks 139th of 432 districts (68th percentile, 3 stars). Nearby same-district schools rank much higher: Lakeview Elementary 93rd percentile, ACE Alliance Charter Elementary 88th, Tullar Elementary 83rd, Coolidge Elementary 72nd, Spring Road Elementary 69th, and Horace Mann Elementary 47th. Taft Elementary also ranks below nearby Menasha schools such as Gegan Elementary and Butte des Morts Elementary, both 24th percentile, and Banta Bilingual Elementary 22nd. Test proficiency is far below district and state levels: Taft’s simple average was about 34%, versus roughly 66% for the district and 55% for the state. ELA and science are the weakest areas, while 3rd-grade math (46.15%) is Taft’s strongest relative result.

Context matters. Taft’s free/reduced lunch rate is 59.22%, high for Neenah but lower than some Menasha schools. Chronic absenteeism improved to 12.6%, now below district (13.1%) and state (17.3%), though higher than many outperforming peers. Resources do not look obviously worse: $15,270 per student and a 12:1 student-teacher ratio. The clearest bright spot is special education, where Taft ranked in the 76th percentile (4 stars) in 2025–2026. Still, with 179 students, year-to-year numbers can swing, and the multi-year pattern is consistently low across most subjects and student populations. Overall, Taft is a small, high-poverty school that is significantly underperforming relative to its district and nearly all nearby schools.

179
Students ?
12.0
Student/teacher ratio ?
$15,270
Per pupil spending ?
59.2%
Free/discounted lunch ?
 133 S Western Ave
       Neenah, WI  54956-2291

(920) 751-6980

District: Neenah Joint School District

Racial breakdown:

White:
64.8%
Hispanic:
12.8%
Two or more races:
11.7%
more
 See top rated Wisconsin elementary schools

 Compare Taft Elementary to nearby elementary schools!
At a glance
▼ Ranking trend: Declining — 36th percentile in 2017 → 17th in 2026
Strengths
✓Small classes — about 12 students per teacher
Worth a look
!Test scores below the Wisconsin average (35% vs 55% meeting standards)
!In the lower quartile statewide (17th percentile)
!Ranking has slipped — down 19 percentile points since 2017
Students meeting standards (2025-2026) ?
This school35%
District avg66%
Wisconsin avg55%
863rd of 1,039
Wisconsin public elementary schools ?
Bottom 17%▼ down 19 pts since 2017
From bottom 36% (2017) to bottom 17% (2026)
See the entire ranking list of Wisconsin Elementary Schools →
★★★★★
SchoolDigger rating ?
8th of 8Elementary Schools in the Neenah Joint School District
139th of 432Neenah Joint School District among Wisconsin districts
Statewide rank percentile over time (100 = the top-ranked school in the state; click a legend item to add a student group)
Show full rank history (all student groups)

All Students

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankWisconsin percentileRating
202619.8863 of 103916.9%★☆☆☆☆
202519.9874 of 104416.3%★☆☆☆☆
202424.5852 of 106119.7%★☆☆☆☆
202320.5886 of 106717.0%★☆☆☆☆
202234.0774 of 106727.5%★☆☆☆☆
202135.9742 of 105029.3%★☆☆☆☆
201925.2839 of 103719.1%★☆☆☆☆
201832.6785 of 102523.4%★☆☆☆☆
201742.9685 of 107136.0%★★☆☆☆

African American

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankWisconsin percentileRating
202314.7137 of 1380.7%☆☆☆☆☆

Female

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankWisconsin percentileRating
202626.0793 of 98619.6%★☆☆☆☆
202537.2716 of 100128.5%★☆☆☆☆
202441.9686 of 101132.1%★★☆☆☆
202324.3818 of 101019.0%★☆☆☆☆
202222.8835 of 101717.9%★☆☆☆☆
202127.0796 of 100420.7%★☆☆☆☆
201929.0790 of 100221.2%★☆☆☆☆
201840.8667 of 99733.1%★★☆☆☆

Low Socio Economic Status

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankWisconsin percentileRating
202618.0756 of 84810.8%★☆☆☆☆
202514.5806 of 8707.4%☆☆☆☆☆
202432.7637 of 86626.4%★☆☆☆☆
202323.0752 of 87113.7%★☆☆☆☆
202227.6687 of 85920.0%★☆☆☆☆
202131.2637 of 84724.8%★☆☆☆☆
201934.0641 of 87426.7%★☆☆☆☆
201835.1631 of 85426.1%★☆☆☆☆

Male

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankWisconsin percentileRating
202618.6836 of 98915.5%★☆☆☆☆
202511.8891 of 100010.9%★☆☆☆☆
202413.0893 of 101211.8%★☆☆☆☆
202319.5849 of 101116.0%★☆☆☆☆
202243.1655 of 101735.6%★★☆☆☆
202143.6635 of 100336.7%★★☆☆☆
201925.0819 of 100218.3%★☆☆☆☆
201827.0806 of 99719.2%★☆☆☆☆

Multi-racial

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankWisconsin percentileRating
202513.8106 of 1136.2%☆☆☆☆☆
202210.573 of 775.2%☆☆☆☆☆

Special Education

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankWisconsin percentileRating
202667.6188 of 79176.2%★★★★☆
202532.5558 of 80230.4%★★☆☆☆
202327.2594 of 77022.9%★☆☆☆☆
202244.3392 of 74847.6%★★☆☆☆
202162.3198 of 74673.5%★★★★☆
201915.2711 of 7424.2%☆☆☆☆☆

White

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankWisconsin percentileRating
20267.4676 of 6973.0%☆☆☆☆☆
202513.3668 of 7187.0%☆☆☆☆☆
202316.0652 of 7158.8%☆☆☆☆☆
202231.2534 of 70424.1%★☆☆☆☆
20197.3695 of 7183.2%☆☆☆☆☆
201825.3575 of 68616.2%★☆☆☆☆
How student groups rank statewide ? (each group's percentile vs the same group at other schools — higher is better; the +/- beside each compares the group with this school's overall percentile)
Special Education (2026)76th percentile+59 vs school
Female (2026)20th percentile+3 vs school
Male (2026)15th percentile~ school
Low Socio Economic Status (2026)11th percentile-6 vs school
Multi-racial (2025)6th percentile-10 vs school
White (2026)3rd percentile-14 vs school
African American (2023)1st percentile-16 vs school
By subject vs Wisconsin (2025-2026) ?
Social Studies46%-20 vs state
Mathematics39%-14 vs state
Science30%-24 vs state
English Language Arts26%-27 vs state

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What people are saying
by a parent
Saturday, May 19, 2018

Open Quote Horrible school! Close Quote





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Frequently Asked Questions about Taft Elementary

In the 2024-25 school year, 179 students attended Taft Elementary.

Students who attend Taft Elementary usually go on to attend:

Middle : Neenah Middle School
High : Neenah High

Taft Elementary ranks in the bottom 16.9% of Wisconsin elementary schools.

Students at Taft Elementary are 65% White, 13% Hispanic, 12% Two or more races, 6% African American, 3% Asian, 2% American Indian.

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Latest Wisconsin data All new data »
2025–26 ACT & Forward Exam scoresNewOct 1, 2026
2021–22 through 2024–25 school spending dataJul 16, 2026
2024–25 attendance data, dropout rates & graduation ratesMar 5, 2026
2024–25 ACT & Forward Exam scoresSep 25, 2025


SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.

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