Summary:
ZIP code 54401 is home to a single public high school: West High, serving grades 9–12 with 1,470 students as part of the Wausau School District. Because only one high school is listed here, the most useful comparisons are West High measured against its own district and against Wisconsin as a whole. For context, 41.22% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch, per-student spending is $15,095, and the student-teacher ratio is 15.1 to 1 — figures with no district or state counterpart in this record, so they are best read as background rather than judgment.
West High's latest results are its strongest recent story. In 2025–2026 it ranked 154th of 533 schools — the 71st percentile with 4 stars — a sharp rebound from 258th of 431 (40th percentile, 2 stars) a year earlier, and well above the Wausau School District's overall 44th percentile, 2-star standing. Proficiency improved in all four tested subjects: Social Studies 57.32%, Math 51.43%, Science 48.73%, and English Language Arts 48.41%. West High is above both district and state in Social Studies, Math, and Science, while in ELA it sits essentially at the state average, just 0.06 percentage points below it. Science posted the biggest gain, up 10.22 points.
The clearest watch item is graduation: 86.7% in 2024–2025, below the district's 90.5% and the state's 92.0%. Notably, the dropout rate is just 0.4% — the same as the district and better than the state's 1.1% — and chronic absenteeism is 15.2%, matching the district and 2.1 points better than the state. That combination suggests the graduation gap may reflect on-time completion, transfers, or cohort tracking rather than students leaving school altogether. Overall, this is a school with recent academic momentum and favorable attendance, with completion rates the area to watch.
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