Summary:
ZIP code 54401 in Wausau, Wisconsin, contains exactly one middle school: John Muir Middle, which serves grades 6–8 with 967 students and belongs to the Wausau School District. Because it is the only middle school in the ZIP code, there are no in-area peers to compare it against, so the most useful comparisons are between the school, its district, and the state of Wisconsin.
John Muir Middle earned a 3-star rating in 2025–2026, placing 253rd of 643 middle schools and in the 61st percentile — a recovery from 2024–2025, when it ranked 309th of 628 at the 51st percentile. The school's academics improved broadly: every one of the 8 reported Forward Exam subject-and-grade results rose year over year, with none declining, and in 2025–2026 it scored above the state average in all 8 tested areas, up from 5 of 8 the year before. Standouts include 8th Grade Social Studies at 72.41% proficient (7.78 points above the state) and 7th Grade Mathematics at 63.23% proficient (7.56 points above the state). Eighth grade saw the biggest turnaround, with 8th Grade Math gaining 7.15 points and moving from below to above the state average. Notably, the school's 3-star, 61st-percentile rating sits above its district's 2-star, 44th-percentile rating.
Engagement indicators are a strength: chronic absenteeism was 13.3%, better than the district's 15.2% and the state's 17.3%, and the reported dropout rate was 0.0%. About 44.88% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch, per-student spending was $14,541, and the student-teacher ratio was 12.9:1 — figures that provide context, though the data set offers no state benchmarks for them. Parents should note that the simple averages across tests cited here are not an official accountability score, and that rank history uses different denominators each year, so small shifts in rank should be read with care.
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