The quality of a school has a direct impact on nearby home prices. Sure, it isn’t the only predictor of a neighborhood’s home values but it’s pretty important. So important, in fact, that a full 35 percent of homebuyers with school-aged kids claim that their ideal home would sit in a neighborhood served by a good school district. Only 18 percent of those without children said the same.
Furthermore, when given a list of factors on which these buyers were willing to compromise, only 4 percent would do so when it comes to the quality of nearby schools, according to a National Association of Realtors 2015 survey.
Since schools are so important to nearby home values, all buyers, whether they have kids or not should research the neighborhood’s schools before deciding on the purchase of a home. This is, after all, an investment you’re making in addition to being a place to call home.
This month we take a look at Shorewood Hills Elementary School in Madison, serving about 500 students in grades PK through 5. These youngsters are taught by 32 full-time teachers, giving the school a student/teacher ratio of about 15:1.
Curriculum and Special Programs
In addition to the core curriculum, Shorewood Hills offers an English learners program, as well as foreign language programs, a chess club, interactive media club, Junior Great Books and safety patrol. Robotics classes are available after school as well as child care.
Test Scores and Rankings
SchoolDigger.com ranks Shorewood Hills 54 of 1,073 elementary schools in Wisconsin. In 2015, Shorewood Hills’ 5th grade students outperformed both the district and state average in both math and English language arts on the Badger Exams. More than 74 percent of these students met or exceeded the state standard on the math exam, compared to 33 percent of the district’s 5th graders and 39.7 percent of the state’s.
The 5th graders’ performance on the English language arts exam was exemplary, with nearly 83 percent of them meeting or exceeding the standard. Forty-six percent of the district’s 5th graders and 53.6 percent of the state’s did the same.
The last day of school before spring break 2016 is March 18 and students return to school on March 29.
You’ll find Shorewood Elementary School at 1105 Shorewood Blvd. in Madison. For more information, call 608-204-1200.
Posted by Jolenta Averill on