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Honest take: what's the hardest part about being a student at Waunakee Heritage Elementary?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
537
Elementary
DISTRICT 438 · STATE 323
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·WAUNAKEE COMMUNITY SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 551581000269
Waunakee Heritage Elementary
6271 Woodland Drive, Waunakee, WI 53597 · (608) 849-2030 · Dane County
GRADES PK–04ELEMENTARY41-RURALREGULAR SCHOOL537 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
11.9:1
45 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 15.4:1 · STATE 14.7:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
16%
84 students
DISTRICT 9% · 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 | 13 | 2% |
| Kindergarten | 88 | 16% |
| Grade 1 | 113 | 21% |
| Grade 2 | 105 | 20% |
| Grade 3 | 112 | 21% |
| Grade 4 | 106 | 20% |
Student demographics
41%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 33% · 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
School pathway
Students here typically continue to
Based on grade levels within Waunakee Community School District. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
Forward Exam 2024-25 . % Meeting or AdvancedEnglish Language Arts
77.3%
WI avg 53.1% . +13.6pp since 2023
Math
70.1%
WI avg 54.8% . -0.3pp since 2023
What this means: On the Forward Exam, Wisconsin's statewide test, about 77 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 70 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 14 points since 2023, while math scores have held steady.
Forward Exam results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 77.3% | 70.1% |
| 2023-24 | 63.7% | 70.4% |
% 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
72.0%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
68.0%
based on WI schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+4.0pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 72% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 68% 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 →
Where Waunakee Heritage Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Wisconsin | In Dane County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 72.0% | #149 of 982 | #16 of 74 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 70.1% | #202 of 992 | #18 of 74 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 77.3% | #53 of 992 | #5 of 74 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 537 | #108 of 1,157 | #8 of 93 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 11.9:1 | #263 of 901 | #45 of 83 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 40.5% | #432 of 901 | #60 of 83 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 15.6% | #940 of 1,064 | #67 of 91 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +31.3% | #26 of 240 | #4 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.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
537
+65 (+14%) vs 2020
+18% since 2000-01, when it was 456
Student : Teacher
11.9:1
was 11.8:1
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 | 537 | 45 | 11.9:1 | 16% (84) |
| 2023-24 | 575 | 49.1 | 11.7:1 | 12% (71) |
| 2022-23 | 547 | 45.2 | 12.1:1 | 10% (56) |
| 2020-21 | 472 | 40 | 11.8:1 | 14% (66) |
| 2017-18 | 409 | 32.1 | 12.7:1 | 14% (58) |
| 2015-16 | 328 | 24 | 13.7:1 | 27% (88) |
| 2010-11 | 326 | 24 | 13.6:1 | 19% (61) |
| 2000-01 | 456 | 31 | 14.7:1 | 3% (14) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Waunakee Heritage Elementary.
About Waunakee Heritage Elementary
Waunakee Heritage Elementary operates as a large elementary school in Waunakee, Wisconsin. The school had 537 students in pre-K through 4 in 2024-25. Average enrollment for elementary schools in Wisconsin is about 323, so this school runs 66% bigger than that.
Waunakee Community School District has 7 schools; together they serve 4,415 students.
White students are the majority at Waunakee Heritage Elementary, with 75% of enrollment. The school is also 15% Hispanic, 7% multiracial, and 2% Asian. That is close to the 77% White share among all Dane County residents. The school's diversity index is 41%, meaning two students picked at random have a 41% chance of belonging to different racial or ethnic groups.
The school reports 45 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to about 11.9 students per teacher. The school has fewer students per teacher than the 14.7:1 average for elementary schools in Wisconsin. The free or reduced-price lunch share, often used to gauge student poverty, is 16%. Among public schools in Dane County, the average eligibility rate is 32%.
A school with Waunakee Heritage Elementary's lunch-eligibility share in Wisconsin is predicted to score 68.0%. Waunakee Heritage Elementary scores 72.0%, 4.0 points above that line.
In Dane County (population about 572,674), the median household income is $89,975, a bachelor's degree or higher is held by about 55% of adults, and the poverty rate is about 5%. There are 169 public schools in Dane County, enrolling about 78,525 students in all.
The school nearest to Waunakee Heritage Elementary is Waunakee Intermediate, at a distance of about 0.1 miles. A five-mile radius around the school includes at least 8 other public schools. Among the 7 closest schools with test data, this one included, Waunakee Heritage Elementary ranks 5th on average proficiency.
Waunakee Heritage Elementary falls in the Rural: Fringe locale category, used for schools in rural territory close to an urban area.
Enrollment grew 14% from its 2020-21 level of 472.
Questions about school safety, transportation, and start times can be posted here. 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 Waunakee Community School District
- Waunakee HighHigh · 1,335 students
- Waunakee MiddleMiddle · 667 students
- Waunakee IntermediateMiddle · 661 students
- Waunakee Prairie ElementaryElementary · 531 students
- Arboretum ElementaryElementary · 435 students
- Waunakee Community 4K SchoolElementary · 249 students
Other schools in Waunakee
- Waunakee HighHigh · 1,335 students
- Waunakee MiddleMiddle · 667 students
- Waunakee IntermediateMiddle · 661 students
- Waunakee Prairie ElementaryElementary · 531 students
- Arboretum ElementaryElementary · 435 students
- Waunakee Community 4K SchoolElementary · 249 students
Nearby schools
- Waunakee Intermediate0.1 mi · 661
- Waunakee Middle0.9 mi · 667
- Waunakee High0.9 mi · 1,335
- Waunakee Prairie Elementary1.8 mi · 531
- Waunakee Community 4K School1.9 mi · 249
- Arboretum Elementary2.8 mi · 435
Frequently asked questions
About Waunakee Heritage ElementaryHow large is Waunakee Heritage Elementary?
Waunakee Heritage Elementary enrolls approximately 537 students in grades PK-04.
What age range does Waunakee Heritage Elementary serve?
Waunakee Heritage Elementary serves students from grade PK through grade 04.
How many teachers does Waunakee Heritage Elementary have?
Waunakee Heritage Elementary employs 45 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 11.9:1.
What is the student diversity at Waunakee Heritage Elementary?
Student demographics at Waunakee Heritage Elementary are roughly 75% White, 15% Hispanic, 1% Black, 2% Asian, 7% Two or more.
Is Waunakee Heritage Elementary public or private?
Waunakee Heritage Elementary is a public K-12 school, overseen by Waunakee Community School District.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.