Summary:
De Soto, Wisconsin has four schools — all part of the De Soto Area School District — serving students from prekindergarten through 12th grade, with a combined enrollment of about 335 students in this small rural community. The district overall ranks at the 31st percentile with 2 stars, but that average masks a highly uneven system: De Soto Middle sits at the 63rd percentile, De Soto High at the 49th, and Prairie View Elementary at the 19th.
De Soto Middle is the clear standout and the only 3-star school in 2025–26. Its scores beat the state in 6 of 8 listed tests, including 6th Grade Math at 70% proficient versus 53.6% statewide, and it has improved from the 40th to the 63rd percentile over three years. It also has the lowest chronic absenteeism at 4.9%, well below the district's 9.9% and the state's 17.3%. De Soto High shows the opposite pattern: excellent completion numbers (97.1% graduation rate, 0.0% dropout rate) but 19.7% chronic absenteeism, higher than the state and more than double the district. Its current test scores are mixed — above state in Math and Science, below in ELA and Social Studies.
Prairie View Elementary ranks lowest at the 19th percentile with 1 star and is below state in all 8 listed tests, with especially wide gaps in 4th Grade Math (18.18% vs 52.87%) and 5th Grade ELA (30% vs 53.63%). Its absenteeism, however, is low at 6.0%. De Soto Virtual School enrolls just 9 students and lacks current test, rank, graduation, and attendance data, making comparisons unreliable. Notably, spending does not track with results: the top-performing middle school spends the least among traditional schools ($13,384 per student), while the highest-spending high school has the biggest absenteeism challenge. With cohorts this small, year-to-year swings should be read cautiously.
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