Summary:
ZIP code 54566 covers Wabeno, a small northern Wisconsin community served by a single district — Wabeno Area School District — with just two schools: Wabeno Elementary (PK–5, 196 students) and Wabeno High (6–12, 193 students), for 389 students total. Because Wabeno High serves grades 6–12, it also functions as the district's middle school, so any 6th–8th grade results appear under a "high school" record. Families here get very small classes (student-teacher ratios of 10.6 and 11.5) and per-student spending of roughly $11,726, in a district where 56–62% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch.
Comparing the two buildings, the elementary is the relative bright spot: it has earned 2 stars in each of the last three years and ranked 720 of 1,039 elementary schools in 2025-26 (about the 31st percentile), while the high school has earned 1 star all three years and ranked 440 of 533 (17th percentile). In 2025-26, 5th grade math at the elementary was above state (54.55% vs. 51.81%), and in 2024-25 it reached 70.83% — 18.3 points above state. The 6–12 building has sat 15–17 points below the state in both middle-grade ELA and math in both years. Its dropout rate (3.3%) is three times the state's (1.1%), its graduation rate (86.2%) is nearly 6 points below state (92.0%), and chronic absenteeism (20.3%) exceeds the state's 17.3%.
The clearest bright spot is the current 6th grade — the only grade level where both ELA (59.09% vs. 54.95%) and math (54.55% vs. 53.60%) beat the state, and the same students were above state as 5th graders. The biggest concern is 8th grade ELA, which fell from 34.62% to 22.22%. Note that with cohorts of roughly 20–30 students, one student can shift a proficiency rate by 3–5 points, so single-year swings — like the ACT ELA drop from 54.55% to 23.81% — should be read cautiously. The district overall is rated 0 stars, 399 of 432 districts.
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