Summary:
Marathon City School District is a small Wisconsin district of three schools serving roughly 770 students from prekindergarten through 12th grade: Marathon Elementary (PK–5, 323 students), Marathon Venture Academy (6–8, 173 students), and Marathon High (9–12, 274 students). The district as a whole is rated 4 stars, ranking 118 of 432 Wisconsin districts — the 73rd percentile, an above-average result. That district-wide rating, however, blends three schools with noticeably different profiles, so parents should look at each school individually.
Marathon High is the academic anchor. It ranks in the 87th percentile with 4 stars and has earned 4 stars three years running. It beat the state in every tested area in 2025–26, including ACT math (56.72 vs 42.93) and ACT science (56.72 vs 43.20). Its dropout rate is 0.0% versus the state's 1.1%, though its 90.6% graduation rate is slightly under the state's 92.0%. The biggest warning sign is chronic absenteeism: 23.0%, well above the district's 14.2% and the state's 17.3%. Marathon Elementary is solid — 3 stars, 66th percentile — and has the district's best attendance at 7.1%. Third-grade ELA (73.33 vs 52.08) and fifth-grade math (71.43 vs 51.81) are strong, but 4th grade lags, with ELA at 45.45 vs the state's 53.87.
Marathon Venture Academy is the most uneven. It ranks in the 58th percentile with 3 stars, down from 4 stars two years ago. Its 8th grade is excellent — math 74.55 vs 53.67, science 72.73 vs 51.86, social studies 78.18 vs 64.63 — while 6th- and 7th-grade ELA fall below state (7th grade: 40.82 vs 55.33). It also spends the least per student ($11,172) and has the highest student-teacher ratio (15.0), showing that spending alone does not predict results. For parents, the takeaways are clear: a strong high school working on attendance, a dependable elementary school with a 4th-grade dip, and a middle school with standout 8th-grade results but weaker 6th/7th-grade reading.
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