Northwood High/Middle

Northwood High/Middle is a small public combined middle and high school serving about 140 students in grades 6–12 in the Minong area of rural northwestern Wisconsin, part of the Northwood School District.

Northwood's most striking story is a long decline in state rankings. In 2025–2026 it placed 382 of 533 Wisconsin high schools — about the 28th percentile, with 1 star — down from 1st of 466 in 2014–2015. It still sits above its own district, which ranks 403 of 432 (7th percentile). By comparison, nearby Hayward High ranks 262 of 533 (51%, 3 stars) and Northern Waters Environmental School ranks 295 of 533 (45%, 2 stars).

Academically, math is the clearest weakness: Forward math scores in grades 6–8 are far below state averages, and ACT Math, ELA, and Science were all 28.57% in 2025–26, compared with state rates of 42.93%, 48.47%, and 43.2%. ACT results have also fallen over the past three years. Attendance and completion are genuine strengths: chronic absenteeism is 13.0%, better than the state's 17.3% and far better than Hayward's 30.2%; the dropout rate is 0.0%; and graduation is 90.0%. Northwood also ranks in the 84th percentile (4 stars) for its low-income students two years running, even though it spends more per student ($17,689) than Hayward or Northern Waters yet trails Hayward on ACT results. Because many of these figures come from very small student groups, and because the free/reduced lunch rate jumped from 2.08% in 2022–23 to roughly 47–49% afterward, treat individual percentages with caution.