West Middleton Elementary School

7627 West Mineral Point Road

School District

Middleton-Cross Plains Area
Grade

PK, K-4
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:11
Type

public

School Map for Middleton-Cross Plains Area School District

GreatSchools Rating

The school rating calculation is based on four ratings: the Student Progress Rating or Academic Progress Rating, College Readiness Rating, Equity Rating, and Test Score Rating each designed to show different facets of school success. Learn more about GreatSchools Ratings

Reviews

Submitted by parent on April 05, 2023

School admin and teachers are very engaged. Our child has had some behavioral issues since entering school and the staff has always dealt with it fairly and has offered extra resources to help. They have learned a ton and very quickly. There's a reason why the test scores are above average and they are consistently ranked highly by the state of Wisconsin.
Submitted by parent on October 26, 2022

West Middleton pre 2021 was a great school, but the climate and teacher turnover are significant problems now. Teachers can be amazing or burned out and the school can no longer meet the learning needs of all its diverse students. If our family had to do it again, we would not have selected this school.
Submitted by parent on October 03, 2021

THIS SCHOOL WAS GREAT UNTIL THE PRINCIPAL CHANGE. NEW PRINCIPAL VERY GREEN AND DOESN'T UNDERSTAND SPECIAL NEEDS KIDS. WAY IN OVER HER HEAD. WHO TAKES CREDIT FOR THIS HIRE?CAME FROM MADISON SCHOOL DISTRICT AND LIKES TO POWER STRUGGLE. LACKING CULTURAL COMPETENCE AMONG OTHER THINGS. nO
Submitted by parent on January 29, 2019

Very old and good school. They socialze with parents very well and very good staff.
Submitted by parent on January 29, 2019

Awesome school and teachers. They teach how to behave and culture.
Submitted by parent on October 07, 2017

Not impressed with the leadership and the difference of consequences among the various races within the school.
Submitted by parent on August 07, 2017

It's always challenging to read reviews of a school that we've really enjoyed and had a very positive experience at get completely lambasted anonymously online. While I respect that every family has a different educational experience based on the uniqueness of their children, painting a school as completely "failing" in its duty to educate children and provide a positive learning environment is a great injustice to the daily efforts of administrators, teaching staff and support staff at this school to provide a top quality experience for all children. I'm not an apologist for public education nor do I have any personal vested interest in the reputation of this school...only that our own children get an education that best prepares them for their life ahead. We have had exceptional teachers at West Middleton who have always given as much time as needed to convey the strengthens and areas of opportunity for our children to excel. Expectations are set high and the teachers have proven more than capable of delivering on those high standards in the classroom. Our family is not immune to having a child that requires a unique teaching skill set in order to connect. However, every teacher we've communicated this to has responded by offering additional support and communication to ensure we were comfortable with the progress in the classroom. I will acknowledge that there have been times when we've preferred to see a more disciplined approach to periods of the day when children are mixing and mingling in common spaces. This suggests that personal accountability is not culturally engrained yet even as leadership has transitioned in recent years. However, in spite of some short comings that are born more of our own subjective preference, this family is more than pleased at the education our children continue to receive at West Middleton and I encourage parents or prospective parents to have their own conversations with the leadership and staff of this school to better understand the passion and commitment that exists to get our kids off on the right foot in their educational journey. Our family, for one, recommends this school without reservation.
Submitted by parent on April 12, 2016

There is a long back story involving a traumatic childhood loss of a father (twice over, once from abandonment and a few months later from his unexpected death) and 2 kids who have suffered greatly from it. My oldest kept slipping through the cracks, so to speak. she was not comfortable socially or academically at the school, but just kept pushing forward. My youngest suffered so greatly at the hands of the inexperienced staff who would not listen or even put my effort into working with the psychologist who has been involved in his life for the last 2 years. He was known to react physically to any perceived threats or discomfort (as expected for his age when he lost his father). For anyone who works with kids who have endured trauma, they know that the situation needs to be handled differently than a typical behavioral problem. The principal was more interested in ridding himself of anyone less than perfect within his school walls, but is the exact reason that his school is currently floundering behaviorally. I had to make an extremely difficult decision to pull both kids out of school and search for someone to help homeschool them (as a single parent, I can't quit my job to do so myself, as much as i'd love to!). But after watching the constant battering of my son, who was also being bullied this year, I couldn't let the emotional and mental terror on either of them continue. I thought we were moving into this school district because it is such a great district and so highly sought after in the Madison area.... I was completely wrong. The environment is horrible and not making any strides at improvement.
Submitted by parent on November 05, 2013

West Middleton has amazing teachers who are passionate about education. Unfortunately, the new principal who started last year has completely changed what used to be an amazing learning environment. We are so glad our youngest kid will be moving on to Middle School next year. We are grateful for our kids' experience at WM, but feel like it is being led downward by the current administration. Just observe him with students and our assesment will be apparent to you too.