Summary:
ZIP code 53581 covers the rural Richland Center area of southwestern Wisconsin and is home to eight public schools serving roughly 1,440 students in grades PK–12 across two districts — the Richland School District and the Ithaca School District — each of which ranks in the bottom quartile of Wisconsin districts, and no school here rates above 3 stars.
The clearest standout is Richland Center Intermediate School, the area's only 3-star school: it sits at the 51st percentile, posted the strongest single result in the data (83.58% proficient in 4th grade Social Studies vs. 65.51% statewide), and pairs the lowest student-to-teacher ratio here (8.6:1) with the second-highest spending. Ithaca Elementary has the best attendance among traditional schools (12.3% chronic absenteeism, well below the state's 17.3%), while Ithaca Middle climbed from the 28th to the 45th percentile on strong 8th grade Science and Social Studies results. Ithaca High posts the area's top graduation rate (91.4%) and a 0.0% dropout rate. Among the micro-charters, HIVE Virtual Charter records the highest ACT ELA anywhere (60%) on the lowest spending ($8,559 per student), while PARTNER Charter has the best attendance in the ZIP (8.3%) but the lowest rank (530th of 533).
The main red flags are secondary-level math and science, chronic absenteeism that worsens with grade level (both comprehensive high schools are in the mid-to-high 20s), and a sharp slide at Richland Center High, which fell from the 67th to the 42nd percentile in two years while its middle-grade results lag those of Richland Center Primary.
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