Summary:
The Wittenberg-Birnamwood School District in central Wisconsin serves about 1,151 students across three schools: two PK–8 elementary buildings — Wittenberg Elementary (449 students) and Birnamwood Elementary (359 students) — and Wittenberg-Birnamwood High (343 students, grades 9–12). There is no standalone middle school; grades 6–8 sit inside the two elementary buildings. The district as a whole ranks 355th of 432 Wisconsin districts, but that aggregate masks a wide spread among its schools.
Birnamwood Elementary is the district's bright spot — the only school in the top half of state elementaries (45th percentile) and the strongest test performer, beating the state on 5 of 16 reportable tests, with 4th- and 5th-grade math near 64–66% proficient. It also has the lowest absenteeism (9.6%) and lowest poverty rate (37.6% free/reduced lunch) while spending the least per student ($11,882). Wittenberg Elementary is the largest and lowest-rated school (21st percentile) and largely drives the district's low ranking, though its grades 6–8 results are competitive. Wittenberg-Birnamwood High is a school of contrasts: a 95.5% graduation rate and 0.2% dropout rate (both better than state), but 10th-grade ACT scores fell below state in all three subjects in 2025–26 after beating state the year before.
Two patterns matter most for families. First, the district's weakness is concentrated in early literacy: elementary ELA dropped from roughly at-state to 13 points below state, with grades 3 and 4 falling 22–29 points at both elementaries. Second, the two elementaries are nearly identical in grades 6–8 (a 1.5-point average gap) but separated by 25.8 points in grades 3–5 — so the difference is about the early-grade experience, not one school being uniformly better. Attendance is a strength everywhere: all three schools beat the state's 17.3% chronic absenteeism rate. Notably, per-pupil spending and student-teacher ratios do not track performance here.
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