Summary:
In the Pepin Area School District, families have one high school option: Pepin High, a small combined school serving grades 6–12 with about 110 students. Because it is the only school, there are no other district high schools to compare it with, and its small size means each grade has few students, so year-to-year test-score changes can be large and may reflect cohort differences rather than a stable trend.
Pepin High’s strongest signals are in climate, completion, and upper-grade STEM. Graduation is 100% versus 92% statewide, the dropout rate is 0% versus 1.1%, and chronic absenteeism is 9.3%, lower than the district’s 12.7% and the state’s 17.3%. ACT math and science are above state in both years: 61.54% vs. 42.73% in math and 69.23% vs. 43.42% in science for 2024–25; 60% vs. 42.93% in math and 53.33% vs. 43.2% in science for 2025–26. The school also spends $20,434 per student, has an 11.4:1 student-teacher ratio, and reports 20.91% free/reduced lunch. Its latest rank is 162 of 533, the 70th percentile with 4 stars, above the district’s 65th percentile, 3-star rank. Rank has swung from 40th percentile and 2 stars in 2023–24 to 84th percentile and 4 stars in 2024–25, then to 70th percentile and 4 stars in 2025–26.
Academic results are more uneven. In 2025–26, 6th grade ELA was 0% versus 54.95% statewide and 6th grade math was 27.27% versus 53.6%; 8th grade science was 41.18% versus 51.86% and social studies 58.82% versus 64.63%. ACT ELA also fell from 57.69% versus 48.62% in 2024–25 to 40% versus 48.47% in 2025–26. Bright spots include 2025–26 7th grade ELA at 75% versus 55.33% and math at 81.25% versus 55.67%, plus 2024–25 8th grade math at 64.71% versus 53.06%, science at 64.71% versus 50.04%, and social studies at 70.59% versus 62.51%. For parents, the takeaway is that Pepin High combines strong completion and attendance with consistently strong ACT math and science, but Forward Exam performance varies sharply by grade and subject, and ELA at the upper grades is worth watching.
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