Black Hawk School District

Black Hawk School District in South Wayne, Wisconsin serves roughly 335 students across three schools on a single campus: Black Hawk Elementary (PK–5, 163 students), Black Hawk Middle (6–8, 76 students), and Black Hawk High (9–12, 96 students). There are no alternative schools. The Black Hawk School District as a whole is rated 227th of 432 in Wisconsin — 47th percentile, 2 stars — but that single district rating hides large differences between the individual schools.

Black Hawk Elementary is the clear academic standout, holding 4 stars for three straight years and reaching the 77th percentile in 2025–2026. It beats state averages in most reported grades and subjects, with especially strong results in 4th-grade math, science, and social studies. Black Hawk Middle sits near the district average at 47th percentile, 2 stars, with notably strong math (7th grade 82.14 versus a state 55.67) but much weaker ELA in 6th and 8th grades. Black Hawk High is the weakest academically — 38th percentile, 2 stars — trailing the state in graduation (85.1% versus 92.0%), dropout (4.0% versus 1.1%), and every reported test area, though it improved sharply from 9th percentile and 0 stars the prior year.

Attendance is a district-wide strength: chronic absenteeism is below the state's 17.3% at all three schools, ranging from 6.5% at the middle school to 10.4% at the high school. Notably, spending and class size do not track with outcomes — the high school spends the most per student ($17,369) and has the smallest classes (9.5 student-teacher ratio) yet performs weakest, while the middle school spends the least ($16,003) with the largest classes. The elementary school also has the highest free/reduced lunch rate at 46.63% but the strongest test results.