Mercer School

Mercer School is a PK–12 public school in Mercer, Wisconsin — a small town in Iron County in the state's far north — and with 92 students it is the only school in the Mercer School District. Because those 92 students span every grade from pre-kindergarten through 12th, there are only about 7 to 9 children per grade. The school is classified as an Alternative school, yet it serves the full PK–12 range with a 5.7:1 student–teacher ratio and $35,814 in per-pupil spending in 2024-25 — an unusually well-resourced setup for so small a population.

The results parents will care about most are strong. Mercer has graduated 100% of its students with a 0.0% dropout rate in each of the last five reported years, while Wisconsin has hovered between 89.5% and 92.0% graduation and 1.1%–1.5% dropout. On the Forward Exam, the school averaged above the state in each of the last three years (65.1% vs 53.8%, 65.6% vs 53.4%, and 57.7% vs 54.5%), after sitting below it in 2022-23 (35.4% vs 43.3%). Strengths are broad rather than confined to one subject: 8th grade Science has beaten the state in all four years by roughly 21 points on average, Social Studies has turned strongly positive, and 5th grade ELA hit 87.5% in 2024-25 against a 51.3% state figure.

Two things temper that picture. First, chronic absenteeism is a real issue: 22.0% of students were chronically absent in 2024-25 versus 17.3% statewide, and in 2023-24 it spiked to 46.7% — more than double the state that year — before returning to roughly 22%. Second, with only about nine students per grade, one child can swing a grade-level percentage by 11–14 points, which is why 8th grade Math reads 0% → 85.7% → 66.7% → 22.2% across four years; that is cohort-level noise, not a program trajectory. There are also no other schools within 20 miles, so the only meaningful comparison available is to the state. Bottom line: a very small, very well-resourced school with a perfect graduation record and three straight years of above-state proficiency — but watch the attendance numbers.