Clinton Senior High

Clinton Senior High is a public high school in Clinton, Wisconsin, serving 312 students in grades 9–12 as part of the Clinton Community School District, a small district ranking in the bottom fifth of Wisconsin districts. In 2025–2026 the school ranked 380 of 533 Wisconsin high schools (29th percentile, 1 star), down from 215 of 431 (50th percentile, 3 stars) the year before — a swing that is common in smaller schools. It is similar in size to Big Foot High, Turner High, and Delavan-Darien High, and smaller than the Janesville and Beloit comprehensive high schools.

Completion and attendance are Clinton’s clear strengths. Its 2024–2025 graduation rate was 98.8%, above the state’s 92.0% and topped among nearby schools only by Big Foot High (99.1%). The dropout rate was 0.3% versus 1.1% statewide, and chronic absenteeism was 13.3%, better than the state’s 17.3% and far better than Parker High (30.0%), Craig High (25.5%), and Memorial High (46.9%) — though higher than Big Foot (8.5%) and the district’s own 8.1% average. Classes are small (12.6 students per teacher, the lowest nearby), per-student spending is $18,222, and the free/reduced lunch rate is 32.69%, among the lowest in the area.

Academics are the bigger concern. In 2025–2026 Clinton was below the state in every tested subject: Social Studies 34.18% vs. 48.25%, English Language Arts 42.65% vs. 48.47%, Math 29.41% vs. 42.93%, and Science 32.35% vs. 43.20%. That reverses 2024–2025, when the school beat the state in ELA, Math, and Science while still trailing in Social Studies — a subject that has lagged in every reported year. Clinton trails Big Foot, Craig, and Turner in most subjects, is roughly even with Parker in Social Studies, and outperforms Delavan-Darien in ELA, Math, and Science. Effectiveness rankings for male students have been low for three years, and 2025–2026 rankings for special education and low-income students fell into the bottom quartile. In short, students finish, but proficiency remains uneven.