Kettle Moraine Explore

As a modestly sized elementary campus in Wales, Wisconsin, Kettle Moraine Explore hosts 137 students from grades K through 5, overseen by Kettle Moraine School District. Compared to the state average of about 323 students per school, that is 58% below typical.

Across the 12 schools in Kettle Moraine School District (3,361 students total), Kettle Moraine Explore accounts for its share of the district's footprint.

On the student-mix side, Kettle Moraine Explore shows that 92% of students identify as White, making the school strongly White-majority. The remainder is composed of 4% Hispanic, 2% Asian, 2% multiracial.

On the income-and-resources front, Staff filings list 8 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 16.6:1 students per teacher. The state averages around 14.7:1, so this campus is higher than the state norm typical. Roughly 10% of students at Kettle Moraine Explore qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment.

On a demographically-adjusted basis, Kettle Moraine Explore tracks the demographic baseline. The model predicts 71.4% given the school's FRL share; actual proficiency is 72.1%.

Zooming out to the county, census data for Waukesha County shows median household income runs about $106,076, 49% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and roughly 3% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Across Waukesha County's 113 public schools (combined enrollment of about 60,032 students), Kettle Moraine Explore is one campus in the mix.

Wales Elementary is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.0 miles from this campus. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around Kettle Moraine Explore. Among the 8 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Kettle Moraine Explore ranks 6th on composite proficiency, above the local average of 69.0%.

The campus sits in a small-town setting. Kettle Moraine Explore is a charter school, which puts it inside the public-school system but outside the standard district-managed model.

Looking at the recent track record. Over the past 7-year window, the student count showed little movement: 138 students in 2018 compared to 137 in 2025. The student-to-teacher ratio fell from 20.0:1 in 2018 to 16.6:1 today.

Inside the community feed, members of the Kettle Moraine Explore community share and discuss sports schedules, lunch menu changes, and school spirit week. Contributors range from current parents to recent graduates and teachers.