Summary:
Unity School District in Wisconsin serves about 915 students across three schools — Unity Elementary (PK–4), Unity Middle (5–8), and Unity High (9–12) — all sharing one Balsam Lake address. As a district it ranks 331st of 432 in Wisconsin, in the 23rd percentile with 1 star, putting it in the state's bottom quartile. That single rating, however, masks three quite different schools.
Unity Elementary has the district's best attendance at 9.9% chronic absenteeism, well below both the district's 18.6% and the state's 17.3%, and its test average of 56.60% sits slightly above the state average. Its 3rd-grade ELA result of 74.55% is the strongest test showing in the district, though 4th-grade ELA (42.47%) and 4th-grade math (46.58%) fall below state. Unity Middle shows the sharpest decline: its test average is 46.10%, about 8.85 points below state, and its rank slipped from 3 stars/57th percentile to 2 stars/38th percentile, with 6th-grade ELA (28.30%), 6th-grade math (30.19%), and 8th-grade math (29.03%) the weakest spots. Unity High has the opposite attendance story at 32.3% chronic absenteeism, nearly double the state rate, and ACT Math is 27.63% versus the state's 42.93%. Its dropout rate is 0.0%, and it improved from 1 star to 2 stars.
For parents comparing the three, attendance is the clearest dividing line, with the elementary and middle schools better than state and the high school far worse. Spending and staffing do not line up neatly with results: Unity High spends the most per student ($14,524) yet has the highest absenteeism and lowest test average, while Unity Elementary spends the least ($12,867) and performs best. Free/reduced lunch is similar across all three schools, at roughly 50% to 54%.
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