Pewaukee School District

The Pewaukee School District (PSD) is the smallest K-12 educational

system in Waukesha County, Wis. (outside Milwaukee), with an 

enrollment of 2,760 students. PSD includes four schools (two 

elementary schools, one middle school and one high school) housed 

on an 85-acre campus that serves students from both the city and 

village of Pewaukee. The district is staffed by 296 employees and 

operates under a budget of $28.6 million.

Meeting High Standards for Performance

• Despite having one of the most rigorous public school graduation 

requirements (28 credits) in the state, PSD achieved a 97.4 

percent graduation rate in 2012-2013 and had a higher graduation 

rate from 2008 through 2012 than other county, state and nearby 

high-performing districts. A key measure of college and career 

readiness, the percentage of PSD students attending a two- or 

four-year college increased from 78.8 percent in 2006-2007 to 

91.9 percent in 2011-2012. This compares favorably to the county 

(84 percent), state (74.1 percent), and nearby high-performing 

districts (85.1 percent). 

• All PSD schools have met the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) 

standard, a measurement defined by the federal No Child Left 

Behind law that annually determines student, school and district 

academic performance. 

• PSD has increased its advanced placement (AP) offerings from 

nine in 2006-2007 to 17 in 2013-2014. Its AP exam pass rate of 

76 percent in 2011-2012 was higher than the county (73.9 

percent) and the state (68 percent). PSD’s ACT composite scores of 

23.4 outperform both the state (22) and national (20.9) averages. 

• PSD’s economically disadvantaged students surpassed the

performance of similar students in the county, state and nearby 

high-performing schools on the Wisconsin Knowledge and 

Concept Examinations (WKCE) reading proficiency tests by 

achieving 45.5 percent proficiency compared to scores below 

33 percent. 

Satisfied Parents, Involved Students

• Parent and student satisfaction surveys show PSD parent 

satisfaction with communication ranged between 91.5 percent 

and 94.8 percent at the four schools in 2012-2013, while the 

national average was 74 percent. Parent satisfaction with 

educational quality during the same school year was 93.8 percent. 

• Extremely low dropout and truancy rates, along with high levels of

student volunteering, demonstrate the effectiveness of the district’s 

efforts to engage students. PSD’s low dropout rate of 0.09 percent 

2013 Award Recipient

Baldrige Performance Excellence Program • National Institute of Standards and Technology • Department of Commerce 

Highlights

• PSD’s mission—”Opening the Door to Each Child’s Future”

—is the foundation for its empowering approach to teaching

and learning. Teachers use leading indicators, benchmarks 

and multiple assessments to tailor classroom instruction to 

best serve the needs of each student. 

• Despite having one of the most rigorous public school 

graduation requirements (28 credits) in the state, PSD 

achieved a 97.4 percent graduation rate in 2012-2013 and 

had a higher graduation rate from 2008-2012 than other 

county, state and nearby high-performing districts.

• Action plans are developed to ensure the accomplishment 

of PSD’s strategic objectives and are reviewed every 90 days. 

PSD completed 98 percent of its action plans in 2012-2013.

• PSD was named by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel as one 

of Wisconsin’s Top 100 Workplaces for the years 2011, 

2012 and 2013. Staff satisfaction ratings for salaries, 

benefits and engagement/involvement all far exceed 

the national averages. 
Baldrige Performance Excellence Program • National Institute of Standards and Technology • Department of Commerce 

2013 Award Recipient

Pewaukee School District

exceeds those of the county, state and nearby high-performing 

districts by a factor of five to 15. PSD’s truancy rate of 0.40 percent 

is between three to 22 times better than the county, state and 

nearby high-performing districts. Seventy-six percent of PSD 

students volunteered in 2012-2013, more than double the 

national average. Total volunteer hours increased from 9,932 in 

2007-2008 to 26,083 in 2012-2013. 

Strategic Planning Yields Quality Education

• Through strategic planning, PSD identified and implemented a 

number of innovative practices to increase student achievement, 

including personalized learning, a 1:1 laptop initiative for Grades 5 

and higher, blended courses that combine face-to-face and online 

learning, a community volunteer program, an elementary world 

language study, and innovative student schedules that maximize 

learning time. 

• Action plans are developed to ensure the accomplishment of PSD’s 

strategic objectives and are reviewed every 90 days. Budget, 

staffing and professional development plans are aligned with 

strategic initiatives, and school improvement plans are created 

at each individual school to support the district’s goals for teaching 

and learning. PSD completed 98 percent of its action plans in 

2012-2013. 

Winning Team from Engaged Leaders, 

Empowered Staff

• PSD’s mission—”Opening the Door to Each Child’s Future”—is the 

foundation for its empowering approach to teaching and learning. 

PSD’s Curriculum Review and Design Process enables district 

leaders and teachers to work collaboratively to create an 

environment for individualized student learning. Teachers use 

leading indicators, benchmarks and multiple assessments to tailor 

classroom instruction to best serve the needs of each student. 

• PSD was named by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel as one of 

Wisconsin’s Top 100 Workplaces for the years 2011–2013. 

Staff satisfaction was 73.1 percent for salaries, 81.5 percent with 

benefits, and 91.6 percent with engagement and involvement—

all far exceeding the national averages. 

• PSD regularly surveys its staff to evaluate leadership effectiveness. 

In 2012-2013,96 percent of staff members responded positively 

to the statement “the district leadership has a positive future 

vision for PSD.” Additionally, 98 percent responded positively to 

the statement “the district leadership provides quality education 

to students.” 

• The superintendent deploys a 360-degree feedback survey to all 

employees to obtain actionable feedback. Recently, 95.86 percent

of employees said they were satisfied that the superintendent 

promotes use of an effective strategic planning model to plan for 

the future, and 97.42 percent were satisfied that she advocates for 

the district with the community at large. In 2013, she was named 

Wisconsin Superintendent of the Year. 

• The PSD Board of Education deploys a governance system to 

review and achieve fiscal and management accountability, 

transparency in operations, and protection of stakeholder interests. 

PSD’s senior leaders rigorously promote ethical behavior, 

including ethics training for new employees. The school district 

has achieved 100 percent compliance for key fiscal, ethical and 

legal measures related to open meetings laws, ethics management 

and safety training. 

Top Grades for Fiscal Responsibility

• PSD demonstrates strong financial performance. The district’s 

Moody bond rating, an indicator of fiscal strength, was raised from 

“Aa3” to “Aa2” in 2010, while ratings for many districts in 

Wisconsin and throughout the nation dropped. 

• Recognizing that fiscal integrity is based on having a fund balance 

to utilize as working capital, PSD has increased its fund balance 

from just over $300,000 in 1997-1998 to nearly $4.6 million in 

2012-2013. This represents a working capital fund making up 

17 percent of the district’s operating budget. 

A Valued Member of the Community

• Stakeholders in the community are kept apprised on how well 

PSD is meeting its mission through regular reports, newsletters, 

meetings, videos, new employee orientations, supplier reviews, 

social media and the district’s website. 

• PSD shares its facilities for community events free of charge, 

maintains a scholarship fund and provides many hours of 

community and volunteer service from staff and senior leaders. 

For more information:

Julie Toole

Pewaukee School District

404 Lake St.

Pewaukee, WI 53072

(262) 695-5037

tooljul@pewaukeeschools.org

http://pewaukeeschools.schoolfusion.us

Baldrige Performance Excellence Program

The Baldrige Program educates organizations of all sizes and 

from all sectors in organizational performance management and 

improvement. We also administer the Malcolm Baldrige National

Quality Award. Our key services are to identify and recognize 

role-model organizations, share best management practices, and 

help organizations achieve best-in-class performance levels. We are 

the only public-private partnership and Presidential award program 

dedicated to improving U.S. organizations. 

For more information on Baldrige, visit www.nist.gov/baldrige, 

call (301) 975-2036, or e-mail us at baldrige@nist.gov.