Pembine High

Pembine High is a small rural school serving 87 students in grades 7–12 in Pembine, Wisconsin, a Marinette County community near the Michigan border, and it is the only high school in the Beecher-Dunbar-Pembine School District.

The school's most compelling story is its turnaround. Pembine High climbed from the 5th percentile in 2020-2021 to the 93rd percentile in 2022-2023 and has stayed in the top ~30% since, earning 4 stars and a 74th-percentile rank (141st of 533) in 2025-2026. That is far stronger than its own district's 1-star, 28th-percentile profile, so the school-level data is much more favorable than the district label suggests. Especially notable: in 2023-2024, students from low-income families ranked 98th percentile statewide (8th of 326 schools), even though about 60% of the student body qualifies for free/reduced lunch. The graduation rate was 95% in 2024-2025. Chronic absenteeism, at 21.6%, is the clearest weak spot — above the 17.3% state average and above both Wausaukee High (19.8%) and Niagara High (11.3%) — though it has dropped sharply from 39.0% in 2021-2022.

Results split by subject and grade level. High school English and social studies are consistent strengths: 10th-grade ACT English language arts was 62.5% proficient versus 48.5% statewide, and social studies 62.5% versus 48.3%. Middle-school math and science lag — 7th-grade math was 23.1% versus 55.7% statewide. Against nearby schools in 2025-2026, Pembine led the group in 10th-grade ACT ELA (62.5%, compared with 37.5% at Goodman High, 47.4% at Wausaukee High, and 60.6% at Niagara High) and in social studies. At 8th grade, Niagara High outperformed — but the pattern reversed the year before, a reminder that with only 13–16 students per grade, one or two students shift results by 7–8 points. Multi-year patterns are the more reliable signal. Pembine also spends $28,199 per student with a 7.3:1 student-teacher ratio.