Lakeland High

Lakeland High is the comprehensive public high school in Minocqua, Wisconsin, a small lakeside community in the Northwoods region, serving 696 students in grades 9–12 as the flagship school of the Lakeland Union High School School District. Because the only other school in the district is Lakeland STAR Academy, a 21-student alternative program less than a tenth of a mile away, district numbers and school numbers are nearly the same for graduation, dropout, and attendance — so the most useful yardstick for parents here is the Wisconsin state average.

Completion is the clearest strength. The graduation rate at Lakeland High has climbed from 88.8% in 2021–2022 to 95.9% in 2024–2025, moving from slightly below the state to nearly four points above it, while the dropout rate sits at 0.8% versus 1.1% statewide. Grade 10 math (44.23% vs. 42.93%) and social studies (49.65% vs. 48.25%) are at or above state levels, and the school's statewide rank rose to 261 of 533 (51st percentile, 3 stars), its first 3-star rating in several years.

Attendance is the persistent problem: chronic absenteeism has held near 26–28% for four straight years, roughly 10 points worse than the state's 17.3%. Science has been below the state for four consecutive years, and English language arts swings widely — from 28.86% to parity with the state and back to 42.31%. Students from low-income families, about 43% of enrollment, sit in the 40th percentile. Meanwhile per-pupil spending fell roughly $2,250 over two years and the student–teacher ratio rose to 14.7. By contrast, Lakeland STAR Academy spends $62,160 per student at a 3.6-to-1 ratio, which reflects its much smaller, higher-poverty alternative setting rather than a resource gap.