Summary:
ZIP code 54514, covering the small rural community of Butternut in northern Wisconsin, contains just one elementary school: Butternut Elementary, which serves grades PK–5 with 84 students as part of the Butternut School District. Because it is the only school in the area, families have a single option to consider, and the school's data reads as a case study rather than a side-by-side comparison.
Academically, English language arts is the standout. In 2025–2026, all tested grades 3–5 scored above the state in ELA — 62.5%, 63.64% and 71.43% versus state rates of about 52–54% — and in 2024–2025, grades 3 and 4 were also above state, including 100% proficiency in grade 4 ELA. Fourth-grade social studies was 100% in 2024–2025 and 81.82% in 2025–2026, both well above state. Mathematics is the weaker area: grade 5 math was 23.53% in 2024–2025 and 42.86% in 2025–2026, and grade 3 math was 37.5% in 2025–2026, all below state. Science was strong in 2024–2025 (85.71%) but below state in 2025–2026 (45.45%). With only about 7–11 students per tested grade, a single student can move results by 9–14 percentage points, so read year-to-year changes as directional.
Attendance is a genuine bright spot: chronic absenteeism was 6.9% in 2024–2025, far under the district's 12.4% and the state's 17.3%. Resources are favorable too, with a 7.8:1 student-teacher ratio and $20,238 per-student spending. The school earned 3 stars and the 56th percentile in 2025–2026, down from 4 stars and the 80th percentile in 2023–2024, but still far above the district's 1-star, 18th-percentile rating. About 51% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch.
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