Black River Falls Middle

Black River Falls Middle School is a public middle school in Black River Falls, Wisconsin, serving 337 students in grades 6-8. The school is part of the Black River Falls School District, which is ranked 383 out of 426 school districts in the state.

Academically, Black River Falls Middle School struggles, with student performance consistently below the state average in both English Language Arts and Mathematics across all grade levels. For example, in the 2024-2025 school year, the percentage of students proficient or better in ELA ranged from 35% to 50%, compared to the state average of around 53-54%. In Mathematics, proficiency rates were even lower, ranging from 26.26% to 53.33%, well below the state's 53-55% average. The school's performance in Social Studies and Science is more mixed, with 8th-grade students performing closer to or above the state average.

The school also faces challenges with equity, as student subgroup performance varies significantly. While Native American students perform relatively well, ranking 6th out of 14 Wisconsin middle schools, White students and students with special education needs perform poorly, ranking in the bottom 25% of the state. Low-income students also struggle, ranking in the bottom 40% of Wisconsin middle schools. Additionally, the school has experienced high rates of chronic absenteeism, ranging from 17.7% to 28.4%, and relatively high dropout rates, ranging from 1.3% to 2.1% in recent years. Despite the school's relatively high per-student spending and low student-teacher ratio, these resources do not appear to be translating into improved student outcomes, suggesting the need for the school and district to closely examine their strategies and practices.