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If you had an hour of school board time for Olson Elementary, what would you bring up?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
462
Elementary
DISTRICT 375 · STATE 323
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·MADISON METROPOLITAN SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 550852002775
Olson Elementary
801 Redan Dr, Verona, WI 53593 · (608) 442-2600 · Dane County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY11-CITYREGULAR SCHOOL462 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
10.9:1
42 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 10.9:1 · STATE 14.7:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
23%
107 students
DISTRICT 48% · STATE 42%
Community
1
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 | 42 | 9% |
| Kindergarten | 87 | 19% |
| Grade 1 | 79 | 17% |
| Grade 2 | 72 | 16% |
| Grade 3 | 71 | 15% |
| Grade 4 | 66 | 14% |
| Grade 5 | 45 | 10% |
This year's kindergarten class (87) is 93% larger than its 5th grade class (45).
Student demographics
67%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
64.5%
WI avg 53.1% . +7.1pp since 2023
Math
62.1%
WI avg 54.8% . -0.6pp since 2023
What this means: On the Forward Exam, Wisconsin's statewide test, about 65 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 62 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 7 points since 2023, while math scores have held steady.
Forward Exam results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 64.5% | 62.1% |
| 2023-24 | 57.4% | 62.7% |
% 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
62.1%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
63.4%
based on WI schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-1.4pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 62% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 63% 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 Olson Elementary
Olson Elementary's state test result (62.1% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Olson Elementary this school | 462 | 23.2% | 62.1% |
| Pleasant View Elementary Franklin | 422 | 24.6% | 68.7% |
| Robinwood Elementary Franklin | 437 | 22.2% | 69.4% |
| Country Dale Elementary Franklin | 437 | 20.1% | 67.9% |
| Horizon Elementary Sun Prairie | 345 | 25.5% | 68.5% |
| Maple Avenue Elementary Sussex | 457 | 17.9% | 83.4% |
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 Olson Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Wisconsin | In Dane County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 62.1% | #356 of 982 | #36 of 74 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 62.1% | #355 of 992 ▲ 23 | #33 of 74 ▲ 4 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 64.5% | #247 of 992 ▲ 172 | #28 of 74 ▲ 10 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 462 | #207 of 1,157 | #16 of 93 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 10.9:1 | #132 of 901 | #24 of 83 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 66.6% | #141 of 901 | #26 of 83 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 23.2% | #846 of 1,064 | #54 of 91 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +3.6% | #171 of 240 | #13 of 17 |
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
462
+40 (+9%) vs 2020
+26% since 2010-11, when it was 366
Student : Teacher
10.9:1
was 13.6:1
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 | 462 | 42.2 | 10.9:1 | 23% (107) |
| 2023-24 | 452 | 38.7 | 11.7:1 | 24% (107) |
| 2022-23 | 442 | 37.1 | 11.9:1 | 28% (122) |
| 2020-21 | 422 | 31 | 13.6:1 | 34% (142) |
| 2017-18 | 446 | 36.6 | 12.2:1 | 35% (155) |
| 2015-16 | 432 | 34 | 12.7:1 | 34% (146) |
| 2010-11 | 366 | 23 | 15.9:1 | 35% (129) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Olson Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students up 4% (446 to 462); teachers up 15% (36.6 to 42.2).
About Olson Elementary
Olson Elementary is a medium-sized elementary school based in Verona, Wisconsin. The school counts 462 students across pre-K through 5. The typical figure for elementary schools in Wisconsin is about 323 students.
Madison Metropolitan School District is the district for Olson Elementary. It has 53 schools and 25,155 students.
A majority of students at Olson Elementary, 52%, are White. The rest of enrollment is 17% Asian, 11% Hispanic, 10% multiracial, and 9% Black. Among all residents of Dane County, the White share is about 77%. By the diversity index, Olson Elementary comes in at 67%.
Its 42.2 full-time-equivalent teachers give the school a ratio of 10.9:1. That ratio is under the 14.7:1 average for elementary schools in Wisconsin. Free or reduced-price lunch eligibility is 23%. The rate at public schools in Dane County averages 32%, higher than here.
Olson Elementary sits between the top and bottom 10% of Wisconsin schools on BeatsExpectations, with an actual average proficiency rate on state tests of 62.1% and a predicted 63.4%.
Olson Elementary is located in Dane County, where median household income is about $89,975, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 55%, and about 5% of people live in poverty. Olson Elementary is one of 169 public schools in Dane County, which together enroll about 78,525 students.
West Middleton Elementary is the nearest neighboring public school, about 2.0 miles away. Counting only straight-line distance, at least 8 other public schools are within five miles. On proficiency, Olson Elementary is ahead of the 57.1% nearby average, ranking 4th of 8.
The National Center for Education Statistics classifies the school's location as City: Large, meaning it is inside a principal city with a population of 250,000 or more.
The number of students climbed from 422 to 462 over 4 years. Students per teacher fell from 13.6 in 2020-21 to 10.9 in 2024-25.
Posts about sports tryouts, band and choir, and theater are welcome on this page. Reviews and ratings from people who know the school are welcome.
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 Verona
- Verona Area HighHigh · 1,820 students
- Badger Ridge MiddleMiddle · 776 students
- Sugar Creek ElementaryElementary · 645 students
- Glacier Edge ElementaryElementary · 462 students
- Core Knowledge Charter SchoolElementary · 417 students
- Country View ElementaryElementary · 382 students
Other Olson Elementary schools
2 other US public schools in 3 states are named Olson Elementary. Olson Elementary is the 2nd largest of the 3.
- OLSON ELEMENTARYBLOOMINGTON, MN · 524 students
- Olson Elementary SchoolWoodstock, IL · 425 students
Nearby schools
- West Middleton Elementary2.0 mi · 334
- Pope Farm Elementary2.6 mi · 448
- Vel Phillips Memorial High School2.7 mi · 2,004
- Verona Area K42.7 mi · 292
- Country View Elementary2.7 mi · 382
- Ezekiel Gillespie Middle School2.7 mi · 462
Frequently asked questions
About Olson ElementaryHow large is Olson Elementary?
Olson Elementary enrolls approximately 462 students in grades PK-05.
Is Olson Elementary an elementary, middle, or high school?
Olson Elementary is an elementary school covering grades PK-05.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Olson Elementary?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Olson Elementary is approximately 10.9:1 (42 FTE teachers).
What is the student diversity at Olson Elementary?
Student demographics at Olson Elementary are roughly 52% White, 11% Hispanic, 9% Black, 17% Asian, 10% Two or more.
Who oversees Olson Elementary?
Olson 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.