Menominee Indian School District

The Menominee Indian School District in Wisconsin serves roughly 994 students across four schools in a PK–12 configuration: Keshena Primary (PK–5, 394 students), Menominee Nation High School (9–12, 364), Menominee Indian Middle (6–8, 206), and Kaehkenawapahtaeq (PK–3, 30). The district ranks 431st of 432 Wisconsin districts on achievement, and three of the four schools sit in the 3rd percentile of school-level rankings — a pattern that has held for more than a decade, not a recent decline.

Each school has a distinct profile. Menominee Nation High School posts the district's strongest result: a 99.1% graduation rate, above the state's 92.0%, with a 0.7% dropout rate below the state's 1.1%. Menominee Indian Middle has the highest chronic absenteeism at 67.0%, yet also produced the district's biggest subject-level improvement (8th-grade science, 9.84% → 13.43%) and its highest ELA score (7th grade, 16.67%). Keshena Primary, the largest school, has the lowest per-student spending ($25,568) and the biggest single gain — 3rd-grade ELA rising from 4.29% to 14.29% — plus the district's top math result (15.63%). Kaehkenawapahtaeq is the outlier: lowest absenteeism (36.0%), lowest FRL (70%), highest spending ($28,398), a 60:1 student–teacher ratio likely reflecting its tiny size, and 0% proficiency in 3rd-grade ELA and math.

Across the district, proficiency runs about 11% in ELA, 6.3% in math, 7.3% in science and 16.2% in social studies — roughly 42 to 46 points below state averages. Chronic absenteeism is 56.3%, 3.3 times the state rate, and every school exceeds it. FRL ranges from 70% to 90.61%. Families should note that results vary widely by grade level, and at the smallest school a single student can swing a percentage substantially.