How a rural Wisconsin school district closed learning gaps for low-income students

A small school district at the tip of Door County was consistently outperforming state and national expectations. 

But then faculty members at the Sevastopol School District dug deeper and realized there were alarming learning gaps. 

“Economically disadvantaged children were not receiving the same education as as our non-economically disadvantaged children,” said second grade teacher Katie Grooters. “So that became our mission. How are we going to reach these kids so they can be at the same academic achievement as their peers?”

For the last eight years, Sevastopol has worked on changing its culture. They’ve done everything from providing all students with free meals to putting staff through an intensive poverty simulation so they could go from sympathetic to empathetic.

And it has worked. 

In 2018, test scores on the state Forward Exam showed Sevastopol ‘s economically disadvantaged students scored 22.8 points lower in English and 21.7 points lower in math than their peers. 

By 2025, economically disadvantaged students scores of the Forward Exam equaled those of their non-economically disadvantaged classmates.

A group of educators from Sevastopol were in Milwaukee last week during the Wisconsin State Education Convention to share their story. 

“Rather than trying to come up with a wholesale list, we tried to keep it mission focused and add things that we could see helped,” Principal Aaron Hilts told a packed room at the Baird Center. “It’s kind of like a plant where you prune some things that didn’t work and you let the rest of the plant grow and keep adding to it.”

The Sevastopol School District is a rural, one-building K-12 district with about 600 students. More than one-third of students, 35 percent, qualify for free or reduced lunch.

A student from a family of four with an income of $40,560 per year or less qualifies for free school meals. Students from families of four who earn up to $57,720 or less can receive reduced-price meals.

Sevastopol routinely earns a top 10 percent ranking in Wisconsin by US News & World Report and “signficantly exceeds expectations” on the Department of Public Instruction’s state school report cards. 

But in 2018, district officials started to dig into testing data and found the students who were considered economically disadvantaged were scoring about a half year behind their peers in math and reading. 

Hilts and his team knew they didn’t need to make curriculum changes — most of the students were scoring very high on standardized tests. 

In fact, Grooters said the challenge was to make sure the other students’ scores didn’t drop in the process.

Instead, Sevastopol started making cultural changes. 

The district began offering free breakfast for all students. There is now a clothing closet for children who need something extra. Every student receives a Sevastopol shirt, for free. 

Hilts said changes were made for everyone, not just children who were identified as economically disadvantaged. 

Besides the tangible changes, Hilts said the school shifted to a “growth mindset.”  

“Establishing a different culture raises everybody up,” Hilts said. “One of the things that we like to talk about at Sevastopol is that it’s not my students, it’s our students, and it makes things more effective across the board.”

Over the last several years, the curriculum has stayed the same, but how it is presented changed. 

Educators realized during COVID-19 that about 20 percent of homes don’t have access to the internet. And even with access, some parents didn’t have an understanding of the technology, Hilts said. 

So, homework is no longer digital.

Part of the growth mindset also included building students’ self esteem and empathy. 

Every grade level now has a service project. Third grade works with the elderly; fifth graders do environmental projects. There is a school-wide fundraiser for the VFW. 

Hilts believes giving all students a sense of belonging at school is how they are able to achieve at the same rate.

“I’m excited because I can take a look at other districts that might have a 1 or 2 percent economically disadvantaged population, and we can go toe-to-toe with them, with our achievement scores,” Hilts said.

Sevastopol School District Superintendent Randi Ryskoski joined the district last year. She said she was interested in the job because of the reputation the district has made for itself closing the achievement gaps.

“Students rise to the occasion,” Ryskoski said. “I’ve always believed that if you set the bar high, students will rise, and that’s what’s happened for us.”