Summary
Birchwood Middle is a very small public middle school serving grades 6–8 with 36 students in the small northern Wisconsin community of Birchwood, part of the Birchwood School District. In 2025–2026 it ranked 540th of 643 Wisconsin middle schools (16th percentile, 1 star), a sharp drop from its best recent showing of 236th of 628 (62nd percentile, 3 stars) in 2024–2025. That is the lowest rank in its reported history back to 2015–2016, though year-to-year figures at a school this size can swing widely.
Compared with nearby schools, Birchwood Middle stands out on resources but not results. It spends $24,455 per student — well above Bruce Middle ($20,231), Rice Lake Middle ($15,006), and Cameron Middle ($12,327) — and has the lowest student-teacher ratio (6.1). Yet its 2025–2026 rank percentile (16) is the lowest of the group, and its chronic absenteeism (22.2%) is more than double Bruce (10.0%) and Rice Lake (10.1%) and nearly four times Cameron (5.7%). It also sits above its district (16.2%) and the state (17.3%). Notably, Birchwood Middle ranks below its own district's percentile (38), while the other three middle schools rank above their districts'.
Academically, an unweighted average of eight overlapping tests puts Birchwood at roughly 28.1% proficient, compared with about 55.5% statewide. Seventh-grade math is a bright spot at 66.67% proficient, above the state and Bruce. Eighth grade is the clearest weak point, with 0% proficient in both ELA and math (after much stronger 8th-grade results the year before), plus 16.67% in science. Subgroup data are limited, but recent effectiveness ranks for White students and low-socioeconomic-status students have fallen to very low percentiles, and the school's high absenteeism is likely a critical area to address.
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