Summary:
ZIP code 53527 in Cottage Grove, Wisconsin is served by three public elementary schools — Taylor Prairie Elementary (PK–K, 264 students), Cottage Grove Elementary (grades 1–2, 307 students), and Granite Ridge School (grades 3–5, 470 students) — all part of the Monona Grove School District, which is rated 4 stars and ranks 127th of 432 districts statewide.
Because the schools are grade-banded rather than comprehensive PK–5 buildings, families move through all three as their children advance. Granite Ridge is the only one with Forward Exam results, since state testing starts in 3rd grade. It scored above the state average in every reported subject and grade in 2025–2026, including 79.02% in 4th-grade Social Studies and 65.03% in 4th-grade Science, and improved in every tested area year over year, with Social Studies up 14.46 points. Its rank rose to 350th of 1,039 schools (66th percentile, 3 stars) from 483rd of 1,044 (54th percentile) the year before. Cottage Grove stands out for attendance and class size: chronic absenteeism of 10.4% and a student-teacher ratio of 10.1, compared with 12.5 at both Granite Ridge and Taylor Prairie. Taylor Prairie has the lowest free/reduced lunch rate (20.83%) and the highest per-student spending ($19,579 versus $18,239 at Cottage Grove and $16,376 at Granite Ridge).
Across all three schools, chronic absenteeism is below both the district's 16.7% and the state's 17.3%, and Granite Ridge's results beat the state everywhere while generally trailing the district average — a sign the district as a whole performs very well. Free/reduced lunch rates are tightly clustered between 20.83% and 22.80%, and higher spending at the smallest school likely reflects PK–K program costs rather than simple efficiency differences.
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