Summary:
Minocqua J1 School District is a small, single-school district in northern Wisconsin whose only campus, Minocqua Elementary, serves about 506 students in grades PK through 8. Because the district has just one school, district and school results are essentially the same. The district is rated 4 stars and ranks 130th of 432 in Wisconsin, placing it at the 70th percentile statewide. Parents should know the picture has shifted recently: Minocqua Elementary ranked in the 76th percentile with 4 stars in 2023–2024 and the 72nd percentile with 4 stars in 2024–2025, but slipped to the 61st percentile with 3 stars in 2025–2026.
English language arts is the school's most reliable strength. In 2025–2026, every tested ELA grade—3rd through 8th—scored above the state, averaging 65.75% versus the state's 54.04%, and 8th grade led at 73.58%, 19.2 points above state. Grade 8 stands out overall, beating the state in ELA, math, social studies, and science by margins ranging from about 12.4 to 21.7 points. Grade 4 also had standout moments, including 91.30% in social studies in 2024–2025, though it eased to 69.81% the following year. Chronic absenteeism is remarkably low at 2.5%, compared with 17.3% statewide, and the dropout rate is 0.0%. Class sizes are small, with a student-teacher ratio of about 10.5.
Math is the area to watch. In 2024–2025, all six math grades beat the state, with an average advantage of 9.6 points. In 2025–2026, only 5th, 6th, and 8th grades did, and the average advantage narrowed to 2.7 points. Fourth grade math was the weakest result at 41.51%, 11.36 points below the state, while 7th and 3rd grade math also fell slightly short. Keep in mind that grade-level comparisons usually reflect different cohorts of students each year rather than the same children improving or declining.
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