Summary:
ZIP code 54521 (Eagle River, Wisconsin) is home to two high schools — Northland Pines Middle and High School (grades 7–12, 543 students) and School of Options and Applied Research High, known as SOAR (grades 9–12, 65 students) — both part of the Northland Pines School District and both located on Pleasure Island Road.
Northland Pines is the academic standout: it ranked 93rd of 533 Wisconsin high schools (83rd percentile, 4 stars) in 2025-26, its best result in three years, and has held 4 stars throughout. Its ACT proficiency beats the district and the state in all three subjects, and it graduates 98.0% of students with a 0.0% dropout rate. SOAR sits at the other end — 450th of 533 (16th percentile, 1 star), with ACT mathematics proficiency at 9.09% versus 54.88% at its larger sibling. Yet SOAR graduates 96.7% of students with a 0.0% dropout rate, both above the state's 92.0% — a genuine strength for a school where 56.92% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch.
Two cautions stand out for families. SOAR's chronic absenteeism is 27.0%, well above Northland Pines (16.9%) and the district (13.7%). Resources also run in an unexpected direction: Northland Pines spends $18,536 per student versus $14,999 at SOAR, with a lower student-teacher ratio (13:1 vs. 17.1:1). Northland Pines' 7th–8th grade Forward Exam results fall below the state even as its 10th-grade and ACT results exceed it, and its 8th-grade scores swing sharply from year to year. Both schools sit in a district rated 3 stars (56th percentile), which conceals a wide internal range.
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