Summary
Vel Phillips Middle School is a grades 6–8 middle school in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, enrolling 832 students as part of the Oshkosh Area School District — the largest middle school among its same-district peers. Its 2025–26 rank is 511th of 643 Wisconsin middle schools (21st percentile, 1 star), and over the past decade it has never exceeded the 24th percentile. Proficiency in 2025–26 was below district and state levels in every tested subject and grade: ELA 42.56% (6th), 32.33% (7th), and 36.63% (8th); math 38.84% (6th), 33.05% (7th), and 35.39% (8th); plus 8th grade science at 36.63% and social studies at 55.97%. There has been real improvement from very low 2022–23 levels — for example, 6th grade ELA rose from 29.06% to 42.56% in one year — but results remain in the bottom quartile.
Vel Phillips is the lowest-ranked Oshkosh middle school in this comparison: South Park Middle sits at the 30th percentile, Tipler Middle at the 49th, and Traeger Middle at the 93rd (5 stars). Nearby, Winneconne Middle ranks at the 96th percentile, Neenah Middle School at the 66th, and Omro Middle at the 63rd. The most striking difference is attendance: 30.2% of Vel Phillips students were chronically absent in 2024–25, up from 10.2% five years earlier, versus 16.9% districtwide, 17.3% statewide, and 7.2% at Traeger. The school also has the highest free/reduced lunch rate in the group (62.26%). Notably, it is not under-resourced — $16,431 per student and a student/teacher ratio of 11.4 are better than most nearby schools, suggesting attendance and economic factors matter more than simple spending.
The school’s relative effectiveness varies by student group. English Language Learner students (43rd percentile) and Special Education students (35th percentile) rank above the school’s overall 21st percentile, while low-income students (12th percentile) rank near the bottom. Dropout is not a major issue: at 0.9% in 2024–25, it is below both the district (1.6%) and state (1.1%) rates. For families, the takeaway is that Vel Phillips faces a combination of high poverty, very high chronic absenteeism, and persistently low proficiency, with recent gains from a very low baseline. Attendance improvement and targeted academic support — particularly for the 7th grade cohort — appear central to any turnaround.
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