Black Hawk Middle

Black Hawk Middle is a small rural school in South Wayne, Wisconsin, serving about 76 students in grades 6–8 as part of the Black Hawk School District in a largely agricultural corner of the state. In 2025–2026 it ranked 343rd of 643 Wisconsin middle schools, placing it in the 47th percentile with a 2-star rating — almost exactly in line with its district, which sits at the 47th percentile of 432 districts. That is a large improvement over 2017–2018 and 2018–2019, when the school ranked in the 15th and 27th percentiles, though below its 2024–2025 peak of the 55th percentile.

Attendance is the school's clearest strength. Chronic absenteeism was 6.5% in 2024–2025 — less than half Wisconsin's 17.3% and well below Monroe Middle (10.9%), Shullsburg Junior High (12.2%), and Monticello Middle (13.2%). Only Argyle Middle was lower. Academically, math is the bright spot: 82.14% of seventh graders were proficient in math, the best among these nearby schools, and eighth-grade math (65.00%) trailed only Argyle. Science has also generally been at or above the state level. English language arts and social studies are the weaker areas — sixth- and eighth-grade ELA and eighth-grade social studies all fell below state averages in 2025–2026.

Among nearby schools, that places Black Hawk in the middle of the pack — behind Monroe and Argyle, close to Monticello, and ahead of Shullsburg. It is worth remembering that with roughly 20–25 students per grade, a few students can swing results sharply from year to year, so single-year numbers deserve caution. Recent subgroup results show low-income students ranking at the 55th percentile, above the school's overall figure, while male students (65th percentile) outranked female students (34th percentile). Per-student spending of $16,003 and a student-teacher ratio of 11.9 are moderate locally.