Summary:
ZIP code 54245 contains exactly one middle school: Valders Middle, a grades 5–8 school in Valders, Wisconsin serving 259 students as part of the Valders Area School District. With no other middle school locally to compare against, the most meaningful benchmarks are the school's own prior years, its district, and Wisconsin state averages.
Valders Middle's non-academic picture is strong. In 2024–25 it reported a 6.5% chronic absenteeism rate — well below the district's 8.1% and the state's 17.3% — and a 0.0% dropout rate, versus 0.2% district and 1.1% state. Its student-teacher ratio of 11.9 is generally favorable, and 22.39% of students qualified for free or reduced lunch. The school earned 3 stars in each of the last three reported years, ranking 316 of 643 schools in 2025–26 (51st percentile), after 64th percentile in 2024–25 and 61st in 2023–24. The district as a whole is ranked 301 of 432 with 2 stars, so the middle school's standing is stronger than the district's overall picture.
Academically, results swung sharply between years. In 2024–25, the school was above state in 8 of 10 listed Forward Exam areas, led by 8th grade math (70% vs. 53.06% state), 8th grade social studies (76% vs. 62.51%), 6th grade ELA (67.21% vs. 53.66%), and 6th grade math (65.57% vs. 52.98%); its simple average across all listed tests was 5.94 points above state. In 2025–26 it was above state in only 4 of 10, averaging 1.24 points below state. Eighth grade was the weak spot: math at 43.28% (10.39 points below state), ELA at 46.27% (8.11 points below), and science at 47.76% (4.10 points below). Seventh grade ELA improved sharply, from 46.27% to 65.00%. The key watch item is whether the 2025–26 decline is a one-year fluctuation or a trend.
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