For the seventh consecutive year in which report cards were issued, the School District of New Berlin “significantly exceeds expectations”, according to 2022-23 state-issued district report cards released this week. Of the 378 districts statewide, the SDNB is one of just 15 to reach that level, and one of only nine K-12 districts to do so.

Additionally, all six of the SDNB schools either “exceed” or “significantly exceed” expectations on the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction’s school report cards.

District and school report cards are intended to offer accountability of how well schools and districts statewide are preparing students to graduate.

On the 2022-23 report cards, the SDNB’s Elmwood Elementary, Poplar Creek Elementary and Eisenhower Middle / High “significantly exceed expectations”. Orchard Lane Elementary, Ronald Reagan Elementary and
West Middle / High “exceed expectations”. Of the more than 1,000 (1,003) K6 elementary schools in the state, Poplar Creek, with its score of 90.4, is one of just 42 to achieve a 90 or better.

Notably, both the number of overall districts and K-12 districts to reach the “significantly exceeds expectations” threshold decreased from 18 to 15 overall and 13 to nine for K-12.

“Only a small number of Wisconsin school districts achieve at the highest levels, and even fewer are able to maintain that consistency year after year,” Superintendent Joe Garza said. “It is definitely a challenge, but for
the better part of this decade, our students, staff and families have been up to the task.

“While the state report cards are just one way to measure a district’s success, it is an important tool that not only lets us celebrate where we are, but also helps us identify areas in which we can improve.”

Report cards provide an accountability index score from 0-100 based on performance in four priority areas:
• Student achievement, or how well the students performed on state assessments using a points-based proficiency system with the score a result of a multi-year average of English language arts and mathematics subscores;
• Growth, or year-to-year student progress on statewide tests;
• Target Group Outcomes, which examines outcomes for students with the lowest test scores and is designed to promote equity by helping districts focus on learners who need the most support while also improving outcomes for all students;
• On-track to graduation, or how successfully students are progressing toward completing their K-12 education.

All four of the SDNB’s district priority area scores were the same or higher than at least 93.9 percent of all districts in the state.

All SDNB report cards can be viewed at www.nbexcellence.org/district/school-report-cards.cfm.

Please note: The SDNB has unique grade-level structures (elementary grades K-6, secondary grades 7-12) that should be taken into consideration when community members, media and others compare scores and ratings to other districts and schools