Mellen Public School

Mellen Public School is a PK–12 school of 252 students in the small northern Wisconsin community of Mellen, where it is the only school within 20 miles and serves as the entire Mellen School District. Because there is no second school in the district, the school's numbers and the district's numbers are the same in every category, so Mellen Public School is the district's performance. Graduating classes run roughly 20–25 students, which means a single student can move a rate by 4–5 percentage points — so one-year swings are usually cohort noise unless they repeat.

The clearest strengths are keeping students in school and getting them to graduation. In 2024–25 the school posted a 100.0% graduation rate (state: 92.0%) and a 0.0% dropout rate (state: 1.1%), and it has graduated 100% of students two years running. Chronic absenteeism was 12.4% that year, 4.9 points better than the state's 17.3%, and Mellen has beaten the state in four of the last five years — even as the share of students qualifying for free or reduced lunch rose to 45.63%. Resources look solid for a small district: $16,186 in per-pupil spending and a 12.4:1 student–teacher ratio, though the ratio has risen from 10.4:1 in two years.

Academics are a more mixed picture. Grade 4 has been a reliable performer, and social studies is the standout — 10th graders scored 75.0% proficient versus 48.25% statewide in 2025–26, beating the state in three of the last four years. Math and English scores, however, generally trail the state, with the current 8th grade below state in every subject (28.57% ELA and 23.81% math). Tenth-grade ACT results were far below state (13.64% ELA, 9.09% math, 18.18% science versus roughly 43–48%), but that reflects only about 2–4 students in a class of ~22 and needs cohort context, not a school-wide verdict.