Summary:
ZIP code 54540 contains one middle school, School of Options and Applied Research Middle, serving grades 5–8 with 43 students in Land O Lakes, Wisconsin, part of the Northland Pines School District. This small rural school averages about 11 students per grade, so grade-level test percentages can swing widely from year to year.
The school’s results are mixed but show a sharp rebound in 2025–2026. Its rank improved from 520th of 628 (1 star) in 2024–2025 to 333rd of 643 (2 stars) in 2025–2026, though that is still below its 2023–2024 rank of 236th of 641 (3 stars). On the unweighted average of reported tests, the school scored 53.5% in 2025–2026, above the district’s 48.6% but slightly below the state’s 55.0%. Standouts include 8th Grade Social Studies at 68.75%, 6th Grade ELA at 60%, 8th Grade ELA at 56.25%, 5th Grade Math at 55.56%, and 7th Grade Math at 54.55%. Year-over-year gains were large in several areas: 8th Grade Math rose from 0% to 43.75%, 8th Grade Social Studies from 28.57% to 68.75%, 8th Grade Science from 14.29% to 43.75%, and 8th Grade ELA from 28.57% to 56.25%. However, 5th Grade ELA stayed flat at 44.44%, below district and state, and 8th Grade Math and Science still trailed the state in 2025–2026.
A major concern is chronic absenteeism: 23.3% in 2024–2025, higher than the district’s 13.7% and the state’s 17.3%. The school reports 0.0% dropout, $21,416 in per-student spending, a 9.6:1 student-teacher ratio, and 51.16% free/reduced lunch eligibility. Overall, this is a very small, relatively well-resourced school that outperformed its district on the unweighted test average but slightly trailed the state, with particular strength in 8th Grade Social Studies and ELA and challenges in absenteeism, 5th Grade ELA, and 8th Grade Math/Science. Because enrollment is tiny, year-to-year results should be interpreted with caution.
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