Three Lakes High

Three Lakes High is a public school serving grades 9–12 with 156 students — roughly 39 per grade — in the rural Northwoods community of Three Lakes, Wisconsin, and it is the only high school in the Three Lakes School District. Its 2025–2026 state rank is 134th of 533 high schools (75th percentile, 4 stars), up from 317th of 431 (26th percentile, 1 star) only two years earlier — a 49-percentile-point climb, the sharpest swing in its peer group. Nearby Northland Pines Middle and High School held steady at a high level, Rhinelander High improved, and Crandon High barely moved.

Test results show real strength in math and science. Tenth-graders scored 57.14% proficient in math — the highest of any nearby school and 14.2 points above the state — plus 53.57% in science (+10.4) and 56.82% in social studies (+8.6). English language arts is the exception at 46.43%, about 2 points below the state and the only subject where the school trails. Math leads ELA here by 10.7 points, the reverse of Wisconsin overall. Northland Pines Middle and High School is the one nearby school that clearly outperforms in ELA (59.76%) and science (57.32%), while Rhinelander High posts just 38.86% in math.

Where the school stands out most is in serving specific groups: its low-income students rank at the 96th percentile, 5 stars (16th of 446 schools statewide), and female students rank at the 86th percentile versus 56th for male students. Graduation is 95.1% with a 0.6% dropout rate for four straight years. The clearest weakness is chronic absenteeism at 21.6% — above the state (17.3%) and above its own district (15.5%) and drifting upward. Spending is $25,860 per student with a 10.2 student–teacher ratio; Northland Pines Middle and High School achieves comparable or better results at $18,536.