Bayfield Elementary

Bayfield Elementary is a PK–5 school serving 189 students in the Bayfield School District on Wisconsin's Lake Superior and Apostle Islands shore, and it currently ranks 957th of 1,039 Wisconsin elementary schools — the bottom 8% — with 0 stars in 2025-26. That placement is not a one-year dip: the school sat in the 42nd–44th percentile in 2016-17 and 2017-18 and has slipped to the 7th–12th percentile range in each of the last five reported years.

Compared with nearby schools, Bayfield's results stand out sharply. On the 2025-26 Forward Exam, Bayfield's average proficiency was roughly 23% in English language arts and about 12% in math, against roughly 53% statewide in each subject. Washburn Elementary, about 10 miles away, scored at or above state averages in nearly every subject, with 4th grade science and social studies in the 70s, while Lake Superior Elementary in Ashland also scored well above Bayfield. La Pointe Elementary, the district's other school, enrolls just 11 students and reports no test results, so no comparison is possible there. Bayfield has the smallest classes (9.1 students per teacher) and spends about $31,364 per student — roughly twice what Washburn and Lake Superior spend — while serving the highest poverty share of the group (64% eligible for free or reduced lunch) and posting chronic absenteeism of 38.7%, more than double the state's 17.3%.

The clearest bright spot is the 2025-26 3rd grade, whose 42.86% ELA proficiency is the highest single grade-subject result shown for this school; watch whether that class holds its level next year. The biggest red flag is the current 4th grade, which posted 3.85% in ELA, 0% in math, and 3.85% in science after a similarly weak 3rd grade year. Attendance is the most actionable lever, and the long downward rank trend has yet to reverse.