Marinette Middle

Marinette Middle is a grades 5–8 school in Marinette, Wisconsin — a city in the northeastern part of the state — serving 534 students, the largest enrollment in this comparison group, as part of the Marinette School District. In 2025–2026 it ranked 507th of 643 Wisconsin middle schools (21st percentile, 1 star), while the district ranked 382nd of 432 (12th percentile, 1 star). The school has stayed in the bottom quartile every year shown since 2015–2016, ranging from the 15th to the 23rd percentile.

Academically, Marinette Middle scored below the state average on all 10 Forward Exam tests listed for 2025–2026. Eighth grade is the weakest area: Marinette was the lowest of the four nearby schools in 8th grade ELA (32.58% proficient vs. 54.38% statewide), math, social studies, and science (32.33% vs. 51.86%). Sixth grade also shows large gaps, roughly 24–25 points below the state in both ELA and math. Seventh grade is a relative bright spot — ELA is close to Oconto Middle and Peshtigo Middle, and 7th grade math is only 1.82 points below the state average. Fifth graders outperformed Oconto in both ELA and math, though both remained below state levels.

Attendance stands out most. Chronic absenteeism was 32.7% in 2024–25 — nearly double the state's 17.3% and far above Oconto Middle (15.8%), Peshtigo Middle (8.7%), and Gibraltar Middle (6.7%) — and has plateaued near 30–33% after improving from 45.7% in 2021–22. The dropout rate was 3.8%, versus 1.1% statewide and 0.0% at the three nearby schools. About 49.63% of students qualify for free/reduced lunch, similar to Oconto, and per-student spending ($14,209) and class size (12.7 students per teacher) are also comparable to Oconto and Peshtigo. Notably, Oconto Unified School District's middle school serves similar demographics with similar funding yet ranks 42nd percentile with much lower absenteeism. Students with disabilities improved from the 12th to the 27th percentile, and low-income students remained at the 17th percentile.