Best Elementary Schools in Zip Code 53901

Elementary schools in ZIP code 53901 (Portage, Wisconsin) consist of three schools serving 724 students in grades K–5, all within the Portage Community School District: Muir Elementary (grades 2–5, 439 students), Woodridge Elementary (grades K–1, 201 students), and Lewiston Elementary (grades K–5, 84 students).

Lewiston Elementary is the smallest school but posts the strongest results: a 2025–26 rank of 335 of 1,039 (68th percentile, 3 stars), up from 46th percentile two years earlier, chronic absenteeism of 4.8% versus the district's 20.4% and the state's 17.3%, and free/reduced lunch at 26.19%. Muir Elementary, the largest school at 439 students (about 60.6% of enrollment), ranks 721 of 1,039 (31st percentile, 2 stars), with 22.6% chronic absenteeism, 47.61% free/reduced lunch, and Forward Exam scores below district and state levels in nearly every reported area except 5th-grade math, where it reports 60.82% proficient against the state's 51.81%. Woodridge Elementary serves only K–1, so it has no Forward Exam results here; its notable figures are 22.5% chronic absenteeism, 46.77% free/reduced lunch, and the highest per-student spending at $18,476.

A few patterns stand out. Lewiston does more with less on paper — the lowest per-student spending ($13,706) and the highest student-teacher ratio (12.6) — but with only 84 students, its percentages, including 100% in 3rd-grade math, can swing sharply on small cohorts. Attendance and achievement also move together: the school with the lowest absenteeism has the strongest rank and test results, while the two with rates near 22.5% include the weakest tested results. The Portage Community School District's own 44th-percentile rank and 2 stars mask that variation.