Colby School District

Colby School District in Wisconsin serves 864 students across three schools—Colby Elementary for grades K–5 with 354 students, Colby Middle for grades 6–8 with 204 students, and Colby High for grades 9–12 with 306 students—and is ranked 413th of 432 districts statewide, at the 4th percentile with 0 stars. All three schools currently carry 1 star in 2025–2026, and no school exceeds the state in any listed 2025–2026 test score.

Within the district, Colby Elementary has the strongest relative profile: the highest 2025–2026 rank percentile at 21st, the lowest chronic absenteeism at 4.8% compared with 8.9% districtwide and 17.3% statewide, and the closest current result to state in 3rd grade Mathematics at 52.38% versus 54.75%. Colby High stands out on completion metrics with 100% graduation versus 92% statewide and 0.0% dropout versus 1.1% statewide, and its rank percentile improved from 6th in 2023–2024 to 14th in 2025–2026. However, its 2025–2026 ACT Mathematics proficiency is only 8.33% versus the state’s 42.93%, and ACT ELA is 26.39% versus 48.47% statewide. Colby Middle has the highest per-student spending at $18,727 and the highest free/reduced lunch rate at 59.8%; its 7th grade results—ELA 44.44% and Mathematics 38.89%—are the best within the middle school, though still below state.

Key concerns include Colby High’s chronic absenteeism at 15.1%, which is below the state’s 17.3% but nearly double the district rate and more than three times the elementary rate. Student-teacher ratios rise with grade level: 11.9 at elementary, 13.8 at middle, and 16.3 at high. Simple test averages show all schools below state: elementary 39.6% versus 54.7%, middle 32.8% versus 55.5%, and high 23.6% versus 45.7%. The largest school-to-state gap is high school ACT Mathematics at 34.6 percentage points below state. The biggest relative strengths are elementary chronic absenteeism at 4.8%, high school 100% graduation and 0.0% dropout, and middle school 7th grade ELA and Math improvement. Social Studies and Science at the middle school are roughly 20–23 points below state.