Summary:
ZIP code 54540 covers Land O' Lakes in Vilas County, Wisconsin, and contains just two schools — a PK–4 elementary and a grades 5–8 middle school — serving roughly 94 students combined, with no high school in the ZIP, so local students travel elsewhere for grades 9–12. Both schools share the same address on Town Hall Road and belong to the Northland Pines School District, which ranks 190th of 432 Wisconsin districts (56th percentile, 3 stars).
The standout is Northland Pines Elementary-Land O' Lakes, which earned a 4-star rating in each of the last three years and reached the 88th percentile among Wisconsin elementary schools in 2025-2026 (rank 126 of 1,039). It performed above the state average in all six reported subject and grade combinations, including 100% proficiency in 3rd grade math and 85.71% in 3rd grade English language arts — figures based on very small grade cohorts, but still well above its own district. Most striking, the elementary reported 0.0% chronic absenteeism, versus 13.7% districtwide and 17.3% statewide.
School of Options and Applied Research Middle tells a different story. Its ranking has swung from the 63rd percentile (2023-2024) to 17th (2024-2025) and back to 48th (2025-2026), and it currently holds 2 stars — below its own district. Every comparable test score rose year over year, and it beats the district in 8 of 10 results, but trails the state in 6 of 10. Chronic absenteeism stands at 23.3%, more than three times the elementary's rate in the same building. Parents should read this as a school in recovery, with a real attendance and engagement challenge in the middle grades.
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