Summary
West High is a public high school in Appleton, Wisconsin, serving 1,118 students in grades 9-12. It is part of the Appleton Area School District, which is ranked 264 out of 426 school districts in the state and has a 2-star rating from SchoolDigger.
West High consistently underperforms compared to the district and state in standardized test scores, with only 33.71% of 10th-grade students proficient or better in Social Studies, compared to 46.44% in the district and 47.67% statewide. The school also struggles to serve certain student subgroups effectively, ranking in the bottom 20% of Wisconsin high schools for female, male, Asian, and white student performance, as well as the bottom 25% for students with low socioeconomic status. Additionally, West High has a higher dropout rate of 1.3-3.2% and a chronic absenteeism rate of 15.2-35.8%, both significantly higher than district and state averages.
Interestingly, West High's performance is significantly lower than its neighboring schools, such as North High and the local charter schools, which consistently outperform West High in academic measures, graduation rates, and student group performance. Over the past decade, West High's statewide ranking has steadily declined, from 192 out of 410 high schools in 2016-2017 to 405 out of 431 high schools in 2024-2025, and its SchoolDigger star rating has dropped from 3 stars to 0 stars during this period. While the school's challenges may be partly due to its high percentage of students from low-socioeconomic backgrounds, the presence of higher-performing schools in the area suggests that there may be opportunities for West High to explore innovative educational approaches and targeted interventions to improve student outcomes.
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