South Shore Junior/Senior High

South Shore Junior/Senior High is a small rural secondary school in Port Wing, Wisconsin, on the Lake Superior shore, serving grades 7–12 with 91 students — about 15 per grade level. No other school lies within 20 miles, so there is nothing nearby to measure it against; the most useful comparisons are the state of Wisconsin and its own district, South Shore School District, whose reported figures are identical to the school's.

The school's recent record is strong on readiness and engagement. In 2025-26 it ranked 74th of 533 Wisconsin schools — its highest absolute placement in ten years — and its 10th-grade ACT results beat state averages in all three subjects: 70% vs. 48.47% in English/language arts, 60% vs. 42.93% in math, and 70% vs. 43.20% in science. Across four years of ACT data, it outperformed the state in 10 of 11 reported subject-years. Chronic absenteeism was 12.4% in 2024-25, below both the state (17.3%) and its own district (18.4%), and a 9.4-to-1 student–teacher ratio means small classes and close attention.

Two caveats matter most. With roughly 15 students per grade, one student can shift a proficiency rate by 5–7 points, so single-year swings are noisy; the multi-year pattern means more than any one year. In 2025-26, 7th-grade English/language arts and 8th-grade math trailed the state by about 9–11 points, while 8th grade and the 10th-grade ACT results ran well above. Graduation also softened: after three straight years at 100%, it fell to 91.3% in 2024-25 with dropout at 2.1% — the only measure below state. The school ranks in the top 3% of Wisconsin schools for its male students but mid-pack (49th percentile) for its female students, a wide gap that at this size likely reflects a handful of students. Free/reduced-lunch enrollment rose from 35.7% to 46.2% in three years, even as per-student spending held around $23,000–$25,000.