Enrollment
329
Elementary
DISTRICT 375 · STATE 323
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·MADISON METROPOLITAN SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 550852000946
Lowell Elementary
401 Maple Ave, Madison, WI 53704 · (608) 204-6600 · Dane County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY11-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL329 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
11.8:1
28 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 10.9:1 · STATE 14.7:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
45%
147 students
DISTRICT 48% · STATE 42%
Community
0
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other elementary schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-K | 33 | 10% |
| Kindergarten | 41 | 12% |
| Grade 1 | 55 | 17% |
| Grade 2 | 51 | 16% |
| Grade 3 | 57 | 17% |
| Grade 4 | 44 | 13% |
| Grade 5 | 48 | 15% |
This year's kindergarten class (41) is 15% smaller than its 5th grade class (48).
Student demographics
65%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 73% · STATE 54% · US 70%
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. District, state, and US figures are each group's share of all public school students in that area (US excludes territories). Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
Test scores
Forward Exam 2024-25 . % Meeting or AdvancedEnglish Language Arts
56.6%
WI avg 53.1% . +2.3pp since 2023
Math
52.4%
WI avg 54.8% . +3.4pp since 2023
What this means: On the Forward Exam, Wisconsin's statewide test, about 57 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 52 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Wisconsin schools, those numbers are about 53 and 55. Reading and writing scores are up about 2 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 3 points.
Forward Exam results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 56.6% | 52.4% |
| 2023-24 | 54.3% | 49.0% |
% Meeting or Advanced, all students and all tested grades.
Source: Forward Exam. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
56.2%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
50.2%
based on WI schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+6.0pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 56% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 50% typical for Wisconsin schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations measures results against demographically similar schools rather than by raw scores, and this school falls within the typical range, neither among Wisconsin's top nor bottom 10%.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
Schools most like Lowell Elementary
Lowell Elementary's state test result (56.2% proficient) is higher than 4 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lowell Elementary this school | 329 | 44.7% | 56.2% |
| Creekside Elementary Sun Prairie | 394 | 43.9% | 45.5% |
| Highland Community School Milwaukee | 387 | 40.6% | 56.4% |
| Emerson Elementary Madison | 297 | 54.2% | 49.1% |
| Underwood Elementary Wauwatosa | 315 | 41.6% | 44.5% |
| Orchard Ridge Elementary Madison | 265 | 52.1% | 43.8% |
Matched among Wisconsin elementary schools on enrollment, the share of students from low-income families (eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), and racial and ethnic makeup. Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across all of the school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25, the same combined score our test-score rankings use. Online schools and schools serving specialized populations are not matched.
Where Lowell Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Wisconsin | In Dane County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 56.2% | #501 of 982 | #47 of 74 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 52.4% | #549 of 992 ▲ 87 | #47 of 74 ▲ 6 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 56.6% | #406 of 992 ▲ 87 | #40 of 74 ▲ 6 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 329 | #525 of 1,157 | #58 of 93 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 11.8:1 | #243 of 901 | #41 of 83 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 64.9% | #160 of 901 | #31 of 83 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 44.7% | #505 of 1,064 | #20 of 91 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -5.5% | #559 of 664 | #54 of 61 |
Ranked against other public elementary schools. Online schools are left out of every list, and test-score lists leave out schools that serve specialized populations. Each rank links to the full list. Arrows under a test-score rank show places moved since the prior test year, among schools tested both years.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
329
-30 (-8%) vs 2020
-26% since 1990-91, when it was 442
Student : Teacher
11.8:1
was 13.3:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free and reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 329 | 27.9 | 11.8:1 | 45% (147) |
| 2023-24 | 335 | 27.8 | 12.1:1 | 43% (143) |
| 2022-23 | 334 | 28.7 | 11.6:1 | 45% (151) |
| 2020-21 | 359 | 27 | 13.3:1 | 43% (154) |
| 2017-18 | 348 | 31.3 | 11.1:1 | 34% (120) |
| 2015-16 | 409 | 33 | 12.4:1 | 47% (191) |
| 2010-11 | 324 | 30 | 10.8:1 | 51% (164) |
| 2000-01 | 394 | 36 | 10.9:1 | 29% (116) |
| 1990-91 | 442 | 39 | 11.3:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Lowell Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students down 5% (348 to 329); teachers down 11% (31.3 to 27.9).
About Lowell Elementary
Lowell Elementary is an elementary school with a street address in Madison, Wisconsin. Its grade span covers pre-K through 5, with 329 students on the rolls.
Lowell Elementary belongs to Madison Metropolitan School District, a district of 53 schools and 25,155 students.
Federal enrollment data show Lowell Elementary is 51% White. Enrollment also includes 26% Black, 12% Hispanic, 9% multiracial, and 2% Asian. The school's White share is 26 points below the 77% share among Dane County residents. A diversity index of 65% means there is a 65% chance two randomly chosen students at Lowell Elementary are from different groups.
There are 27.9 full-time-equivalent teachers at Lowell Elementary, giving a ratio of 11.8:1. Elementary schools in Wisconsin have an average ratio of 14.7:1. By family income, 45% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. For comparison, public schools in Dane County average 32%.
Lowell Elementary posts an average proficiency rate across its state test results of 56.2%, compared with a predicted 50.2%. It is not in the top or bottom 10% of Wisconsin schools on BeatsExpectations.
Looking at the county, Dane County, the median household earns about $89,975 a year, 55% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 5% of people live in poverty. Dane County has 169 public schools with about 78,525 students, including Lowell Elementary.
East High is about 0.8 miles from Lowell Elementary, the shortest distance to any other public school. Counting only straight-line distance, at least 8 other public schools are within five miles. On state test proficiency, Lowell Elementary ranks 3rd in a group of 8 nearby schools.
On the NCES locale scale, the school is City: Large.
From 359 students in 2020-21, enrollment decreased to 329 by 2024-25. The school's ratio dropped from 13.3:1 to 11.8:1 between 2020-21 and 2024-25.
People can post here about open houses, carpools, and field trips and other school topics. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to post.
Dane County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
572,674
Census ACS
Median income
$89,975
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
55%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
5%
Below federal line
Schools in county
169
78,525 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Madison Metropolitan School District
- West HighHigh · 2,222 students
- Vel Phillips Memorial High SchoolHigh · 2,004 students
- East HighHigh · 1,643 students
- LaFollette HighHigh · 1,541 students
- Hamilton MiddleMiddle · 790 students
- Cesar Chavez ElementaryElementary · 631 students
Other schools in Madison
- West HighHigh · 2,222 students
- Vel Phillips Memorial High SchoolHigh · 2,004 students
- East HighHigh · 1,643 students
- LaFollette HighHigh · 1,541 students
- Hamilton MiddleMiddle · 790 students
- Cesar Chavez ElementaryElementary · 631 students
Other Lowell Elementary schools
24 other US public schools in 15 states are named Lowell Elementary. Lowell Elementary is the 15th largest of the 25.
- Lowell ElementaryWaukesha, WI · 347 students
- Lowell ElementaryLong Beach, CA · 609 students
- Lowell Elementary SchoolWaterloo, IA · 538 students
- Lowell ElementaryEverett, WA · 531 students
- Lowell Elementary SchoolIndianapolis, IN · 466 students
Nearby schools
- East High0.8 mi · 1,643
- Emerson Elementary0.8 mi · 297
- Schenk Elementary0.8 mi · 394
- Whitehorse Middle0.9 mi · 415
- O'Keeffe Middle1.0 mi · 434
- Marquette Elementary1.0 mi · 169
Frequently asked questions
About Lowell ElementaryHow many students attend Lowell Elementary?
Lowell Elementary enrolls approximately 329 students in grades PK-05.
What grades does Lowell Elementary serve?
Lowell Elementary serves grades PK-05.
How many students per teacher at Lowell Elementary?
Approximately 11.8:1 students per teacher at Lowell Elementary.
How diverse is Lowell Elementary?
Lowell Elementary reports a student body of 51% White, 12% Hispanic, 26% Black, 2% Asian, 9% Two or more.
Who oversees Lowell Elementary?
Lowell Elementary is overseen by Madison Metropolitan School District in Dane County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.