Elementary School Placements 24-25

School placements are decided early in order to properly plan and staff for the upcoming school year. The district begins the staffing process for the next year in early February. Knowing student enrollment numbers and school placements is crucial for determining how many new teachers and staff members need to be hired, as well as identifying any necessary displacements or reassignments of current personnel. By having placements decided ahead of time, the district can ensure proper allocation of resources and appropriate class sizes across all schools based on anticipated enrollment. Making staffing decisions in a timely manner allows the district to be prepared with the right instructors and support staff in place before the new school year arrives.

This information was sent to families via the Infinite Campus (IC) Parent Portal. It would come from the following email address: DoNotReply@oshkosh.k12.wi.us

If you did not receive an email, call your child’s current elementary school. Your school secretary will be able to assist you. They will also be able to update your contact information in IC if needed.

NOTE: Your child's elementary school placement for the 2024-2025 school year will also be available for you to see during the Annual Online Registration process, which opens on April 1. 

The Oshkosh Area School District provides free school bus transportation for students who meet certain criteria. Students living outside the Oshkosh city limits are eligible for busing, as are students residing in areas within the city that do not have sidewalks leading to their assigned school. The district is continuing to evaluate its busing guidelines to best serve families. There may be some adjustments made to transportation policies and eligible areas.

The process for requesting school bus transportation happens during the annual student registration period (April 1 through September 1) via the IC Parent Portal. After you complete the registration indicating a need for busing, the district will notify you in August whether your child is eligible based on your home address.

If you've recently moved and don't think the school assignment for your child is correct based on your new home address, here are the steps to take:

1. Use the district's SchoolSearch tool to confirm your new attendance area boundaries. Visit oshkosh.k12.wi.us/families/school-locator and enter your current address to see which school(s) your home is now assigned to.
2. If the SchoolSearch tool shows a different school than the one you received in your placement letter, please contact the OASD Administration Office at 920.424.0395. Be prepared to provide your updated home address, move-in date and proof of residency. Staff will then verify proper school enrollment boundaries and make any necessary changes to your child's school assignment.

A new interactive OASD "SchoolSearch" map is available. Here are the steps to use it:

1. Visit this link: app.guidek12.com/oshkoshwi/school_search/current/
2. Enter your home address in the search box.
3. The map will show you the attendance boundaries and highlight which school(s) your address is assigned to for the 2024-2025 school year.

This mobile-friendly map provides updated 2024-2025 boundaries, reflecting the opening of the new Menominee Elementary School in September 2024. In addition to showing your assigned school(s) based on your address, the interactive map also displays the school address and directions. Later in summer 2024, busing eligibility information will be added to make it even more comprehensive.

Northside elementary school boundaries were redrawn and approved by the school board in May 2023, to go into effect for the 2024-2025 school year.

We are building a new northside elementary school - Menominee Elementary - which will open in the fall of 2024 on the site of the former Webster Stanley building. It will allow us to consolidate three elementary schools (Merrill Elementary, Webster Stanley Elementary, Washington Elementary) down to one (Menominee Elementary). This consolidation required us to redraw boundaries for all northside elementary schools (beginning in the 2024-2025 school year) to balance enrollment across our remaining four northside elementary schools: Emmeline Cook Elementary, Menominee Elementary, Oaklawn Elementary, Read Elementary

The OASD followed its standard boundary review process, similar to the process used in 2013 for the opening of Oaklawn Elementary. The OASD worked with Traffic Analysis and Design Inc. (TADI) to plan safe walking zones to schools, as well as Martenson & Eisele, an independent firm, to ensure boundary options are tied to the TADI recommended zones. The OASD used 23-24 enrollment data to create the proposed boundaries recommendations as this was the most reliable data available at the time. After reviewing the routes proposed by TADI, the team from Martenson & Eisele worked on creating scenarios to match those boundaries. After working through a variety of options they came up with two similar scenarios that most closely matched the safe route zones that TADI provided. The approved scenario provided cleaner boundary areas.

While Merrill, Webster, and Washington Elementary schools are being consolidated into the new Menominee facility, student placements for 2024-2025 were determined by their primary address and attendance boundaries, not simply which school a student previously attended. With the closure of those three schools, updated boundaries were redrawn for all northside elementary schools to balance enrollment numbers across Emmeline Cook, Menominee, Oaklawn, and Read Elementary. Your home address now falls within the attendance area for your assigned school, which is why your child was not automatically placed at Menominee.

Our goal was to distribute students to their newly designated neighborhood schools as equitably as possible based on the redrawn maps. This allows us to utilize classroom space efficiently and ensure appropriate class sizes at each building.

Out of Attendance Area (OOAA) requests are only approved for one year at a time. Before confirming an OOAA placement, the family acknowledges that the approval is for one year only. While we strive to accommodate family requests, we are limited by space availability and we prioritize placing students at their neighborhood school. While your child was able to attend their requested OOAA school last year, shifts in enrollment for the upcoming year may mean there is no longer space to continue that placement.

We recognize the difficulty of school transitions and the desire for consistency when possible. However, guaranteeing OOAA placements long-term would inevitably result in overcapacity at some schools and underutilized resources at others. Our goal is to provide a quality education for all students in an appropriate learning environment. The annual OOAA review process, though inconvenient at times, allows us to uphold that commitment equitably across the district each year.

No. OOAA requests that were not approved during the first round of school placements in February, will be re-evaluated in August and students will be placed based on availability. Families who previously submitted an OOAA for 2024-2025 do not need to reapply. Families wishing to submit an OOAA application can do so by completing the OOAA Request Form. Please know that we have staffed for our current students and we are anticipating we will be able to accommodate very few OOAA requests at all levels.

Families wishing to submit an OOAA application can do so by completing the OOAA Request Form. Please know that we have staffed for our current students and we are anticipating we will be able to accommodate very few OOAA requests at all levels.

Most children will be placed in their neighborhood school unless specialized programming is approved in the IEP team process. Please reach out to your child’s case manager for more information.  

No. All students are placed in their neighborhood school.  All OASD schools provide ESOL services based on the needs of their school population.