Summary:
ZIP code 53948 covers Mauston, Wisconsin, where three elementary schools — all part of the Mauston School District — together enroll about 596 students: West Side Elementary (PK–2, 256 students), Grayside Elementary (grades 3–5, 244 students), and Mauston Montessori Charter School (PK–5, 96 students). The district as a whole ranks 357th of 432 districts in Wisconsin, about the 17th percentile with 1 star, so families should look closely at individual school results.
Grayside is the clearest improvement story: it rose from the 25th to the 35th percentile and from 1 star to 2 stars over three years, and beats the state in 4th grade science, 4th grade social studies, and 3rd grade math. Its weak spot is 5th grade, where ELA (33.80%) and math (29.58%) fall far below state. Montessori has by far the best attendance — 3.9% chronic absenteeism versus 16.6% district and 17.3% state — and the strongest ELA scores, including 5th grade ELA at 66.67%, but its math results are the lowest in the data (3rd grade 6.67%, 5th grade 16.67%), and it remains 1 star. West Side, which serves PK–2, has no state test scores; it has the highest poverty rate (68.36% free/reduced lunch), the highest spending ($15,508 per student), the smallest classes (student-teacher ratio 14), and the highest absenteeism (19.2%).
Across the three schools, higher poverty tracks with higher spending and lower student-teacher ratios. Both tested schools improved their state rank over three years, but Montessori's small enrollment means grade-level percentages can swing widely from year to year and may reflect different groups of students rather than clear growth. Achievement comparisons are only possible between Grayside and Montessori, since West Side serves grades PK–2.
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