Gilmanton School District

The Gilmanton School District is a very small PK–12 district in Wisconsin with three schools — Gilmanton Elementary (PK–4, 52 students), Gilmanton Middle (5–8, 37 students), and Gilmanton High (9–12, 39 students) — enrolling 128 students total and ranked 220 of 432 districts statewide at the 49th percentile with 2 stars. That district average blends three very different stories.

Gilmanton Elementary is the standout, climbing from rank 832 of 1061 (22nd percentile, 1 star) in 2023–2024 to 128 of 1039 (88th percentile, 4 stars) in 2025–2026, with 4th grade ELA and math both at 87.5%, and the lowest chronic absenteeism in the district at 7.1%. Gilmanton Middle improved from 1 star to 3 stars, powered by 100% proficiency in 8th grade social studies, though 5th grade math sits at 0% and 5th grade ELA at 28.57%. Gilmanton High splits sharply: a 100% graduation rate and 0.0% dropout rate, but a slide from 4 stars in 2018–2019 to 1 star in 2025–2026, with ACT math at 11.11% and ACT ELA at 0%.

All three schools keep chronic absenteeism below the state's 17.3%. Free/reduced lunch is 30.77% at the elementary, 54.05% at the middle, and 48.72% at the high school. Per-student spending rises by level ($15,465, $21,161, $31,439) while student-teacher ratios fall (10.8, 9.4, 6.7) — yet the high school posts the weakest proficiency, a pattern small rural high schools often show because of fixed costs and specialized courses. Because each grade holds only a handful of students, a single student can shift a proficiency rate by 10 or more points, so year-to-year swings are best read as strong signals with caution.