Summary:
The Merrill Area School District in north-central Wisconsin serves its youngest students at two elementary schools that together enroll 594 children: Kate Goodrich Elementary for kindergarten through 2nd grade (337 students) and Washington Elementary for grades 3 and 4 (257 students). These are not two schools families choose between; they form a grade-level sequence, so most students attend Kate Goodrich first and then move on to Washington. The district as a whole is ranked 213th of 432 with 3 stars.
Washington Elementary is the school with current state test results and the strongest attendance picture. In 2025–2026 it ranked 502nd of 1,039 — 52nd percentile with 3 stars — up from 47th percentile and 2 stars two years earlier. Its 3rd graders scored above the state in both ELA (62.5% proficient, 10.42 percentage points above) and math (59.82%, 5.07 points above), and 4th graders beat the state in ELA and science. The clear weak spot is 4th grade math: 44.17% proficient, 8.70 points below the state and down sharply from 60.48% the prior year. Chronic absenteeism is 11.8%, better than both the district (14.6%) and the state (17.3%).
Kate Goodrich has no Forward Exam results in this data, which is expected since Wisconsin testing begins in 3rd grade — the missing scores are not a sign of weak performance. It does stand out for resources: $18,481 spent per student ($1,649 more than Washington) and a lower student-teacher ratio, 12.5 versus 14.5. Chronic absenteeism there is 13.1%, still below the district and state. Its most recent rank history shows dramatic improvement, from 23rd percentile and 1 star in 2017–2018 to 71st percentile and 4 stars in 2020–2021. Both schools have nearly identical free/reduced lunch rates, about 55.7%.
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