Enrollment
235
Elementary
DISTRICT 239 · STATE 323
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·WAUSAU SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 551590001409
South Mountain Elementary
224700 Bittersweet Rd, Wausau, WI 54401 · (715) 261-0235 · Marathon County
GRADES KG–05ELEMENTARY41-RURALREGULAR SCHOOL235 STUDENTS
A
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 89% of Wisconsin public elementary schools
- ATest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- A-Beats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- ·Three-year trend Not available for this school, so the grade uses the other parts.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded Wisconsin public elementary schools
Student : Teacher
11.6:1
20 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 13.4:1 · STATE 14.7:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
21%
49 students
DISTRICT 46% · 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Kindergarten | 37 | 16% |
| Grade 1 | 38 | 16% |
| Grade 2 | 42 | 18% |
| Grade 3 | 35 | 15% |
| Grade 4 | 42 | 18% |
| Grade 5 | 41 | 17% |
This year's kindergarten class (37) is 10% smaller than its 5th grade class (41).
Student demographics
33%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 56% · 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
74.3%
WI avg 53.1% . +1.4pp since 2023
Math
68.1%
WI avg 54.8% . -10.4pp since 2023
What this means: On the Forward Exam, Wisconsin's statewide test, about 74 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 68 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 1 points since 2023, while math scores are down about 10 points.
Forward Exam results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 74.3% | 68.1% |
| 2023-24 | 72.9% | 78.5% |
% 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
75.4%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
64.8%
based on WI schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+10.6pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 75% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 65% 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 South Mountain Elementary
South Mountain Elementary's state test result (75.4% proficient) is higher than 4 of the 4 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| South Mountain Elementary this school | 235 | 20.9% | 75.4% |
| Evergreen Elementary Holmen | 317 | 23.0% | 67.3% |
| Rib Mountain Elementary Wausau | 194 | 25.8% | 68.3% |
| Hillcrest Elementary Waukesha | 239 | 29.3% | 73.4% |
| Willow Springs Learning Center Menomonee Falls | 279 | 8.6% | N/A |
| Davey Elementary Eau Claire | 332 | 32.2% | 57.1% |
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 South Mountain Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Wisconsin | In Marathon County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 75.4% | #95 of 982 | #2 of 25 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 68.1% | #236 of 992 ▼ 140 | #5 of 25 ▼ 2 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 74.3% | #89 of 992 ▲ 15 | #1 of 25 ▲ 1 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 235 | #816 of 1,157 | #16 of 30 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 11.6:1 | #205 of 901 | #5 of 20 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 33.3% | #518 of 901 | #14 of 20 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 20.9% | #876 of 1,064 | #23 of 26 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -3.7% | #590 of 664 | #18 of 22 |
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
235
+23 (+11%) vs 2020
-15% since 2000-01, when it was 275
Student : Teacher
11.6:1
was 10.6:1
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 | 235 | 20.3 | 11.6:1 | 21% (49) |
| 2023-24 | 223 | 18.6 | 12.0:1 | 22% (49) |
| 2022-23 | 233 | 21 | 11.1:1 | 22% (51) |
| 2020-21 | 212 | 20 | 10.6:1 | 23% (49) |
| 2017-18 | 244 | 19.8 | 12.3:1 | 14% (33) |
| 2015-16 | 260 | 20 | 13.0:1 | 18% (48) |
| 2010-11 | 215 | 15 | 14.3:1 | 18% (38) |
| 2000-01 | 275 | 15 | 18.3:1 | 32% (89) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for South Mountain Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students down 4% (244 to 235); teachers up 3% (19.8 to 20.3).
About South Mountain Elementary
This page covers South Mountain Elementary, a small elementary school in Wausau, Wisconsin. Students in kindergarten through 5 make up the school's enrollment of 235 students. By comparison, elementary schools in Wisconsin enroll about 323 students on average.
Wausau School District is the district for South Mountain Elementary. It has 21 schools and 7,738 students.
White students are 80% of those enrolled at South Mountain Elementary. The rest of enrollment is 13% Asian and 5% multiracial. On a 0 to 100 scale, the school's diversity index is 33, compared with 70 nationally.
Its staff includes 20.3 full-time-equivalent teachers, for about 11.6 students per teacher. The average for elementary schools in Wisconsin, 14.7:1, is higher. South Mountain Elementary has a free or reduced-price lunch rate of 21%. Across public schools in Marathon County, the average is 37%.
South Mountain Elementary earns an A on the allk12 Grade, which blends test scores, results against poverty-based expectations, and the three-year trend. It scored higher than 89% of Wisconsin public elementary schools.
The allk12 BeatsExpectations score for South Mountain Elementary is +10.6 points: 75.4% actual, 64.8% predicted.
In Marathon County, median household income comes to about $77,884, a bachelor's degree or higher is held by about 28% of adults, and the share of residents below the poverty line is 5%. Marathon County counts 52 public schools with about 18,592 students.
Rib Mountain Elementary is the nearest public school to South Mountain Elementary, about 1.5 miles away. Within five miles of South Mountain Elementary, there are at least 8 other public schools. Its average proficiency rate of 75.4% is above the 50.3% average for nearby schools.
South Mountain Elementary is coded as Rural: Fringe in federal locale data.
The school grew from 212 students in 2020-21 to 235 in 2024-25.
On allk12, people connected to South Mountain Elementary can post about pickup and drop-off, after-school programs, and teacher feedback. Members of the school community can share what they know.
Marathon County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
138,403
Census ACS
Median income
$77,884
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
28%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
5%
Below federal line
Schools in county
52
18,592 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Wausau School District
- West HighHigh · 1,470 students
- John Muir MiddleMiddle · 967 students
- East HighHigh · 893 students
- Horace Mann MiddleMiddle · 635 students
- G D Jones ElementaryElementary · 492 students
- Riverview ElementaryElementary · 445 students
Other schools in Wausau
- West HighHigh · 1,470 students
- John Muir MiddleMiddle · 967 students
- East HighHigh · 893 students
- Horace Mann MiddleMiddle · 635 students
- G D Jones ElementaryElementary · 492 students
- Riverview ElementaryElementary · 445 students
Other South Mountain Elementary schools
3 other US public schools in 4 states are named South Mountain Elementary. South Mountain Elementary is the 4th largest of the 4.
- South Mountain Elementary SchoolS ORANGE, NJ · 613 students
- South Mountain Elementary SchoolDillsburg, PA · 389 students
- SOUTH MOUNTAIN ELEMENTARYMORIARTY, NM · 303 students
Nearby schools
- Rib Mountain Elementary1.5 mi · 194
- Rothschild Elementary2.8 mi · 408
- G D Jones Elementary3.0 mi · 492
- John Marshall Elementary3.1 mi · 231
- D C Everest Junior High3.3 mi · 848
- Lincoln Elementary3.5 mi · 204
Frequently asked questions
About South Mountain ElementaryHow many students attend South Mountain Elementary?
South Mountain Elementary enrolls approximately 235 students in grades KG-05.
Is South Mountain Elementary an elementary, middle, or high school?
South Mountain Elementary is an elementary school covering grades KG-05.
How many teachers does South Mountain Elementary have?
South Mountain Elementary employs 20 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 11.6:1.
What is the racial breakdown of students at South Mountain Elementary?
At South Mountain Elementary, the student body is approximately 80% White, 1% Hispanic, 13% Asian, 5% Two or more.
Is South Mountain Elementary public or private?
South Mountain Elementary is a public K-12 school, overseen by Wausau School District.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.