Summary:
ZIP code 54479 covers Spencer, Wisconsin, and is served by two public schools — Spencer Elementary (grades PK–5, 290 students) and Spencer Junior High/High (grades 6–12, 329 students) — both part of the Spencer School District, for a total enrollment of 619 students. There is no standalone middle school and no alternative school here; the junior/senior high is a combined building, and the district itself ranks 317 out of 432 districts in Wisconsin, at the 27th percentile with 1 star.
Spencer Elementary is the steadier performer. It has earned 3 stars in each of the last three reported years — 52nd, 55th, and 65th percentiles — and its 4th graders in 2025–2026 scored above the state in ELA, math, social studies, and science. Chronic absenteeism is just 6.6%, far below the district's 11.1% and the state's 17.3%. Its weak spot is 5th grade, where math fell below the state in both recent years. Spencer Junior High/High has excellent completion results — a 98.0% graduation rate and 0.3% dropout rate, both well above the state — plus strong 8th grade math and 6th grade ELA. But its ranking swung from the 63rd percentile and 3 stars in 2024–2025 to the 27th percentile and 1 star in 2025–2026, and its 10th grade ACT and social studies scores and 8th grade science all fell below the state.
For parents, the two schools cost almost the same per student ($15,840 versus $15,998) yet show very different academic trajectories. The elementary school also has a much lower student-teacher ratio (10.6 versus 14.5) and less than half the chronic absenteeism (6.6% versus 14.9%). Because the high school serves only 329 students across seven grades, small cohorts can magnify year-to-year swings, so the 2025–2026 downturn is worth watching rather than treating as settled.
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