Summary:
Salem, Wisconsin is home to two public schools — Salem Elementary, a PK–8 school in the Salem School District, and Central High, a grades 9–12 school in the Westosha Central Union High School School District — together serving about 2,245 students in this western Kenosha County community. There is no separate middle school, so middle-grade data sits within the elementary school.
Central High is the stronger performer overall, ranking in the 66th percentile of Wisconsin high schools with 3 stars, and its rank percentile has risen from 52 to 66. Its graduation rate is 97.5% versus 92.0% statewide, with a 0.0% dropout rate and 12.8% chronic absenteeism compared with 17.3% statewide. In 2025–26 it scored above the state in social studies (58.86 vs. 48.25), English language arts (49.39 vs. 48.47), mathematics (48.18 vs. 42.93), and science (44.55 vs. 43.20). Its trend is mixed, though: only social studies improved year over year, while ELA, math, and science each declined.
Salem Elementary ranks in the 42nd percentile with 2 stars and has slipped from the 63rd to the 42nd percentile in recent years. Its brightest spots are upper-grade math — 8th grade math at 69.00% was 15.33 points above the state, with 6th and 7th grade math also strong — and science, while 3rd, 4th, and 8th grade ELA all fell below state averages. Both schools keep dropout and absenteeism below state levels. Salem Elementary spends more per student ($15,295 vs. $14,273) with a smaller student-teacher ratio (14.4 vs. 18.5) and has a much higher free/reduced lunch rate (32.37% vs. 12.3%), so simple spending-to-performance comparisons between the two are best made with caution.
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