Best High Schools in Zip Code 53716

ZIP code 53716 contains three schools classified as high schools — two traditional grades 9–12 campuses and one combined grades 6–12 school — split across two districts and enrolling 2,804 students in total. LaFollette High, part of Madison Metropolitan School District, is the largest with 1,541 students (55.0% of the total). Monona Grove High and Monona Grove Liberal Arts both belong to Monona Grove School District, with 1,170 and 93 students respectively. Note that Monona Grove Liberal Arts spans grades 6–12 and is very small, so its percentages can swing widely from year to year.

Monona Grove High is the strongest conventional high school here: 4 stars, ranked 91st of 533 schools (83rd percentile), a 95.2% graduation rate against the state's 92.0%, a 0.1% dropout rate, and proficiency above the state in all four reported 10th-grade subjects — Social Studies, ELA, Math, and Science. Its chronic absenteeism (19.5%) is slightly above the state's 17.3%, and its per-student spending ($16,789) is the lowest of the three. Monona Grove Liberal Arts is the wildcard: also 4 stars and 81st percentile, a dramatic rise from the 1st percentile in 2018–2019, with a standout 80% ACT Science proficiency. But its 87.5% graduation rate trails both the state and its district, and its absenteeism (22.8%) exceeds both.

LaFollette High faces the biggest challenges: 1 star, ranked 428th of 533 (20th percentile), chronic absenteeism of 42.3% (more than double the state), a free/reduced lunch rate of 58.27%, and proficiency below the state in every subject. Still, its 1.1% dropout rate matches the state, its 86.2% graduation rate beats its district's 84.6%, and its rank has climbed from the 6th to the 20th percentile. Higher spending at LaFollette has not translated into higher proficiency.