Birchwood Elementary

Birchwood Elementary is a small PK–5 public school serving 86 students in the rural northern Wisconsin community of Birchwood, part of the Birchwood School District. For 2025–26, the school ranked 760th of 1,039 Wisconsin schools — the 27th percentile, or 1 star — while the district ranked 270th of 432 districts (38th percentile).

The most striking pattern is that Birchwood spends a lot per student without seeing strong results. Its per-student spending was $24,740 in 2024–25, far above Cameron Elementary ($14,110) and Shell Lake Elementary (3-6) ($16,784) — yet those schools rank much higher (65th and 83rd percentile). Birchwood's student–teacher ratio of 7.8 is the second lowest among nearby schools, and enrollment is tiny compared with Cameron's 432 students. Math is the clearest academic weakness: average grade 3–5 math proficiency was about 27.5% versus roughly 53.1% statewide, a gap of about 26 points. English language arts is closer to the state (about 46.9% versus 53.2%), with grades 4 and 5 near or slightly above state averages and 3rd grade well below. Science and social studies are relative strengths, at or above state averages in recent years.

There are encouraging signs. ELA proficiency has risen from about 19% in 2022–23 to about 47% in 2025–26; chronic absenteeism fell from 27.1% to 17.7%, close to the state rate but still higher than Cameron (11.4%) and Haugen Elementary (7.2%); and the school's rank improved from the 18th to the 27th percentile. However, subgroup results show broad declines in relative effectiveness, including male students (11th percentile vs. 40th for female students) and the low-socioeconomic-status group (16th percentile in 2024–25, down from 96th in 2018–19). Because grade sizes are only about 10–20 students, single-year percentages can swing sharply — multi-year trends are more reliable. Birchwood Public Montessori, just 0.07 miles away with similar spending, posted mixed results and a somewhat higher 2024–25 rank.