Summary:
ZIP code 54603 in La Crosse, Wisconsin is home to two elementary schools — Summit Environmental School and Northside Elementary — both serving PK–5 in the La Crosse School District and together enrolling about 532 students.
Of the two, Summit Environmental School is the stronger performer. It is the only school here that beats the state in any subject — 4th grade Social Studies at 67.57% proficient versus 65.51% statewide — and it has the lowest chronic absenteeism at 11.5%, well under the district's 19.6% and the state's 17.3%. Its rank also improved every year for three years (802 → 770 → 725), rising from 1 star to 2. Northside Elementary posts lower results, ranking 911 of 1039 (12th percentile, 1 star), but it has a distinctly different profile: 84.81% of students qualify for free/reduced lunch versus 51.53% at Summit, spending runs $24,890 per student versus $16,984, and its student-teacher ratio is 7.2 versus 11.3. Its brightest spot is 5th grade Math at 40.54%, which actually edges out Summit's 37.14%.
For parents, the practical picture is this: both schools have good attendance relative to the district and state, yet both fall below the state in nearly every tested subject, and Social Studies is the strongest subject at both while Math and Science are the weakest. Summit's three-grade averages (about 47% ELA, 40% Math) sit roughly 21 points above Northside's in ELA and 13 points in Math. Note that year-to-year changes reflect different students, not individual growth, and at schools this size a single student can move a percentage by several points. Keep in mind the district itself ranks 294 of 432 statewide (2 stars), so below-state results partly reflect district-wide patterns.
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